Euphorbia lactea

When I worked at Ladera two years ago, Ray the head gardener shied away from pruning this "cactus" that hung over the entrance drive and the road which leads up to the Hilltop Suites. The cactus was heavily entwined with glorious bougainvillea both red and white. It was over 15' tall and both plants appeared married as they draped two roads and the employee canteen. Since both plants were laden with thorns I assumed Ray's reluctance was associated with getting pricked while pruning but that was not the case. Ray told me that the cactus was poisonous and that a few years previous he had pruned it and nearly went blind spending five days in the hospital and being off work for over two weeks.

Returning to work here I noticed that both plants had grown considerably larger and so I attempted to prune them. The cactus leaked a heavy milky substance as I worked and the thorns of the bougainvillea were jabbing me at every opportunity. Ray suggested that someone else prune it and I let the new general manager know that it posed a threat. Since we have a backhoe on site for some of the heavy work due to hurricane damage it was decided that the dangerous cacti be removed.

Steven the brave Rasta chain saw operator donned gloves and goggles to knock down the heavy branches and the backhoe did the rest. The cactus is actually Euphorbia lactea or candelabra cactus, the latex juice it drips is a mild to moderate skin irritant but is extremely dangerous if it get in your eyes.



While it was a wise choice to remove the plant from a public area we now must deal with the big hole left behind, which exposes the canteen. Ray has already planted some small Royal Palms we pulled for transplant and likely the construction crew will build a lattice screen. Given time the bougainvillea will come back along with the assorted ginger that adorned the area to provide color and screening.