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Plant Clinic

A thorny identification problem

 
You can make stem cuttings from the Thai hybrid crown of thorns.
You can make stem cuttings from the Thai hybrid crown of thorns.
A. Hunsberger/UF Extension

By Adrian Hunsberger

dade@ifas.ufl.edu

Q. Can you help with identification? I don’t know this plant’s name but I know it is related to the commonly called “Christ Crown,” right? As you can see, the trunk is too long.

M.R.A., via e-mail

Your plant is one of the Thai hybrid crown-of-thorns.

You can make stem cuttings. Dip the cut end in rooting hormone and blow off the excess. Plant in barely moist sand and keep in the shade while rooting. The plants will need to be misted a few times a day until roots develop. Then you can plant it in the ground or in pots and place in partial to full sun. Use a cactus-type potting soil if grown in pots.

Insect samples

Send undamaged (live or dead) insects in a crush-proof container such as a pill bottle or film canister with the top taped on. Mail them in a padded envelope or box with a brief note explaining where you found the insects.

Do not tape insects to paper or place them loose in envelopes. Insect fragments or crushed insect samples are almost impossible to identify.

Send them to the address of your county extension office, found in the blue pages in the phone book under county government.

Adrian Hunsberger is an entomologist/horticulturist with the UF/IFAS Miami-Dade Extension office. Write to Plant Clinic, 18710 SW 288th St., Homestead, FL 33030; e-mail dade@ifas.ufl.edu.

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