Fire On The Mountain

This one appeared in the same bed as my Brandywine Tomatoes in the test gardens.

The unique shaped leaves and pretty pinkish bracts are a unique thing for the late summer garden when a lot of annuals have petered out.

Common Name: Fire On The Mountain

 

Other Common Names: Dwarf Poinsettia, Wild Poinsettia, Catalina, Desert Poinsettia, Painted Leaf, Mexican Fire Plant. (there are many more)

 

Botanical Family: Euphorbiaceae (The Spurge Family)

 

Botanical Latin Name: Euphorbia cyathophora

 

Description & Habitat:  Fire On The Mountain is a short-lived annual cousin to the Common Poinsettia. It is native to both North and South America and can be found growing wild in the Carolinas with moderate ease. Although its seed is sole through some vendors and it is a true wild flower it is considered a weed by some. You will find this plant in sites with disturbed soil, waste areas, by the roadside, along interstates, near creeks and rivers and it will ‘volunteer’ in the farmer’s field and in pastures. Overall it looks like a skinnier version of the common Poinsettia, and has medium green foliage that bears leaves that resemble a Dipylon shield from ancient Greece. The sure fire way to Identify this plant is to look for it in mid to late August, and look for the pinkish-orange partially colored bracts. By then the plants are at least a foot to three feet tall and very obvious. In the garden this wildflower is not too particular about where it grows but it may need some support when it gets tall. Fertilizer will make it branch more and produce a lot more foliage which will make for a better show in late summer to early fall.

 

Just a note, this plant has a lot of older botanical Latin names, they include the following;     Euphorbia barbellata, Euphorbia graminifolia, Euphorbia havanensis, Euphorbia heterophylla var. barbellata, Euphorbia heterophylla var. cyathophora, Euphorbia heterophylla var. graminifolia, Poinsettia barbellata, Poinsettia cyathophora, Poinsettia graminifolia, Poinsettia havanensis.

 

When & What to Harvest: Do not harvest this plant for food or medicine.

 

Dangerous Lookalikes: None that I know of.

 

Related Useful Species:  Japanese Poinsettia (Euphorbia heterophylla), Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima).

 

Recipe:  This plant is not edible and there is no herbal/medicinal use for it that I know of.

 

Additional Information: (If applicable)

https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/euphorbia-cyathophora/

https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=EUCY

https://www.prairiemoon.com/euphorbia-cyathophora-fire-on-the-mountain

 

With all that garden goodness covered this is the part of the blog where I have to advertise for the Fayetteville City Market. Now I know you readers probably don’t much like advertisements, but my booth at the City Market helps to cover the costs of running the test garden and literally maintains the Research & Development budget that is used to bring you the information that has made up the backbone of this blog.  In addition to being able to process card payments we now take CashApp payments so your payment options for my product have tripled. With that said; if you want to get some GMO-free, Organic fruit, herbs, flowers and perennials, come on down to the Fayetteville City Market on 325 Maxwell Street in downtown Fayetteville between the hours of 9:00 am and 1:00 pm on Saturdays. Even in bad weather the market goes on though you might have to look for me under the ‘arches’ of the Transportation Museum’s front entryway.

 

For those of you wondering what plants are going to be at the market this weekend here is the list.

 

Fresh Foods:

Soup Kit – Parsnip

Soup Kit – Turnip

Garlic Bulbs

Sandhills Mushroom Farms – Lion’s Mane Tincture Sample size (New!)

Sandhills Mushroom Farms – Lion’s Mane Tincture

Sandhills Mushroom Farms – Turkey Tail Tincture

Sandhills Mushroom Farms – Lion’s Mane Mushroom Grow Kit (New!)

Soil Amendment Products:

Live Mushroom Compost – 18 Gallon Tote*

Live Mushroom Compost – 3 Gallon Bag

Live Mushroom Compost – 1 Gallon Bag

 

Garden Plants, Perennial:

Gentian Sage

Spineless Prickly Pear

Spanish Bayonet

 

Garden Plants, Fall Foods:

Arugula, Astro

Cabbage, Pac Choi ‘Rosie’

Collards, Green Glaze

Kale, Prizm

Kale, Redbor

Sorrel, Raspberry Dressing

 

 

Coming Soon:

TBA!

 

*The 18 gallon tote is by special order only and is delivered to any address within the Fayetteville city area.

 

 

How to stay in Contact with Us!

Our group’s online presence has migrated to Nextdoor.com. All you need to keep up with all our activities is to have a Nextdoor account and to look for the ‘Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville’ group and ask to join! You don’t have to live in Fayetteville to join us! Feel free to ask all your garden questions of our knowledgeable membership and post your cool garden pictures.

 

Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville

 

Also please take a gander at the YouTube version of this blog:

The Videos: Look Here

>Newest videos (1): Ginger

 

Meetings are still going on! Our next (unofficial) meeting is September 21^st at the Fayetteville City Market at 325 Franklin Street between 9:00 am and 1:00 pm.