Botany
Erect and branched shrub growing up to a meter high, with cylindric or obscurely angled branches lined with stiff, slender, divergent spines. Leaves are few, alternate, pale green, oblong-obovate, or short acuminate, up to 5 cm long. Inflorescences arise from the upper leaf axils and is peduncled with 2-4 involucres in each peduncle, each involucre with 2 spreading red kidney-shaped lobes.

Distribution
Widely cultivated in settled areas in the Philippines.
Native to Madagascar.

Parts used
Flowers, latex.

Uses
Folkloric
No reported folkloric medicinal use in the Philippines.
• Popular use in South Brazil as "dragon's blood," the red latex from Christ's crown Euphorbia milli (Euphorbiaceae) as a treatment for warts. source
• In Chinese folk medicine, euphorbia compounds used in cancer treatment.

Studies
• Antibacterial: In a study of 41 plants tested against E coli, Shigella spp, and Vibrios spp among others, Euphorbia milli was one of 28 that showed antibacterial activity.
• Aspergillus Inhibition: Dry flower powder of Euphorbia milli was found to have 100% total inhibition on aflatoxin-producing fungi on agar-medium. The effect may be due to the interference of the simple phenols and phenolic acids, quinones, flavones, flavonoids and flavanols, possibly at the biosynthetic level. This may find application in the elimination or control of aflatoxin contamination of foodstuffs, as well as controlling aspergillosis, a large spectrum of disease caused by members of genus Aspergillus.
• Mollusicidal / Non-Teratogenic: Study of the embryofeto-toxicity of Crown-of-Thorns (Euphorbia milii) latex, a natural molluscicide: The study is a comprehensive safety evaluation of the embryotoxic potenial of E. milli. The crude latex of Euphorbia milli is a potent plant molluscicide and a promising alternative to synthetic moluscicides used in schistosomiasis control. The study concludes that the plant molluscicide poses no teratogenic hazard.

Availability
Cultivated.