Leafless Milk Hedge or Leafless Euphorbia also called Thor Danda is not a name that you will like, instantly. Sounds a little odd? Thor plant in English is called Euphorbia Caducifolia. I have run into this plant many times while trekking in Jaipur.

Most people consider it a cactus. When I started searching for more information about this plant I found that it is succulent from a plant family called Euphorbia.

Euphorbia is a genus of flowering plants in the Euphorbiaceae family containing around 2,000 species. It is supposed to be one of the most diverse groups of flowering plants on the planet. Euphorbia is also called Spurge and produces white latex-like substance when cut. They are found in temperate zones worldwide often resembling the cacti family. Cacti or Cactus does not produce a white milky substance.

Euphorbia Caducifolia is known by many local names like Thor/ Thhor/ Danda-Thor. It is also known as leafless Milk Hedge as well as Leafless Euphorbia.

what is special about Euphorbia Caducifolia?
It is a tall multi-stem plant occurring in Thar desert as well as hilly tracts across Aravali hills. This plant covers complete hillock often growing to a humongous size.

They appear in areas that undergo a dry season followed by monsoon rains. It produces a small red-pink flower. It looks beautiful with these flowers in full bloom.

Benefits of Danda Thor
Leafless Milk Hedge is an important part of local ecology often providing shelter for the small reptiles. Here is a picture of Thor Danda from Ranthambore National Park in Rajasthan.
The plant is supposed to have medicinal uses too. Recent claims suggest its use in generating bio-fuel and as a cure for leukemia disease.

The plant has the ability to adapt itself to local conditions, therefore, it is quite hardy and resistant.One should avoid coming in contact with the white milky substance as it can be an irritant for the skin and eyes. If you do come in contact with its latex-like white substance, wash immediately.

Thor or leafless Milk Hedge is increasingly put in use for ornamental or beautification purposes – landscaping in urban areas. But in my opinion, they are best suited in their natural habitat –Aravali hills or Thar desert.

Nature is beautiful and has so many unique creations. All species have a well-defined purpose. Even though I have seen it many times over the last few years, it was only recently I stumbled upon its name leafless Milk Hedge. Like others, I also assumed this as one of the cacti variants. Similar to Anogeissus Pendula or Dhok tree, this is a resident plant of Aravali Hills. I wrote about Anogeissus Pendula almost two years ago, I’m sure most of the readers must have missed reading this post. Have you ever seen Euphorbia caducifolia.?
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Another awe-inspiring on the infinite variety of our plant world. You were right that Euphorbia Caducifolia was completely unknown to me. Thanks for the photos and explanations, Arv!
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There are so many unique plants and trees around us. We hardly known about few of these. I mistook this as a cacti until recently. I thought of sharing because I’m sure none of us know much about this plant. Thanks for sharing your thoughts here. 😃
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Informative post with beautiful pics!
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Thank you 🙂
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Beautiful plant. It looks familiar to me, as I think I have seen it in my friends kind of cactus garden, here in Southern California.
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Cornelia, There are many similar plants from this family. there is an entire site devoted to its variant. I also chanced upon it today. Even Agave which is found in California is also from this family. 🙂
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Thank you Arv for this information.
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you are welcome, Cornelia 🙂
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that place looks so beautiful for trekking ARV….. may be next time when I am there in Jaipur…..we can go together……
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Sudhir…its a deal. That will be wonderful. Do keep me posted. Do you keep visiting Jaipur?
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Yes….. since its very near to my place of Residence which is Gurgaon…. we have visited it many times….. I will inform you when I am there…….
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That’s great. keep me posted, Sudhir! 🙂
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sure…..
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👍
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Beautiful little flowers! ❤
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Happy to know you liked them 🙂
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Beautiful colours and wonderful place!
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Happy to know you liked it, Puja 🙂
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Beautiful pictures. The names reminded me of my botany classes back in school. 😀
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Thanks, Sheetal. You mean botany in primary years?
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I like the thought of learning about plants while hiking/traveling. We hardly pay any attention…but why not make the best use of outing!
Btw, how did you get the Instagram shots added here?
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Alok, Thanks for offering your point of view. For nature lovers it is but natural to know a bit more about elements of nature. It is slowly that I have started paying more attention to trees and plants. rust me, it is interesting! BTW, many of these pictures were not clicked for this post. When I clicked some of those pictures, I had no idea about its name.
For that question, will send you details, very soon! 🙂
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Although I’m pretty certain that I’ve never seen that plant in the UK, Arv, I new there was something about the name Euphorbia I’d heard before, somewhere in the distant past. So I did a quick check to find there are so many species including Poinsettia which are common in the UK at Christmas time. You have to make sure that you don’t let pets or children touch the sap as it can be poisonous or an irritant just like your Leafless Milk Hedge
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I have heard this name but it is not very popular here in India…may be because it is not native to this region. The entire genus of Euphorbia consists of 2000 variety…so it is huge and I’m sure there’s one for every region. Even Agave (native to N America) is also from this family! I’m sure some people will start thinking about Tequila after hearing this name! 😉
Thanks for your input on Euphorbia, Mike!
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Amazing pics.
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Thank you, Rupam! Happy to know you liked it 🙂
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Gorgeous pictures and I had never heard about this plant. Never seen either. The one with flowers was my favorite. Thank you for explaining and sharing 🙂
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Thanks, Parul. I have been seeing this plant for three years but only recently I found out its name. I would have loved to post it for your Thursdaytreelove but I had this deadline for blog chatter.
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no worries at all. It’s the thought that matters 🙂
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Thank you, Parul. I have been wanting to. Have something to post. Will keep you posted. 😊
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This is interesting. Nature always inspires us. Lovely picture.
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I’m not sure if I have seen this form of Cactus before. It looks really beautiful though! The best part of trekking is the natural beauty of the place. Great shots from the top!
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There’s nothing much I can add, Cheryl! It is important to visit wilderness to discover nature. The concrete cities we live in doesn’t offer much choice!
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At first even I thought it was from the cacti family …… till I read your post. I really found it pretty. In fact even the cacti family have beautiful blooms.
Thor Danda …… sounds like a superhero’s super weapon 😀
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Ha ha! Yes it does sound funny.. which is what I have mentioned in my opening paragraph.
Nature has so many beautiful creations. Let’s discover more of these and spread the awareness!
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Wow! I love Jaipur city. Been there a lot in my childhood days
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Happy to hear this. Do you have relatives in Jaipur?
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Nature is always surprising us!
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Well said, Lalitha.
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I surely hadn’t read or heard about them earlier! Wow!
Also, I absolutely love your blog’s theme!
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Thanks, Sushmita!Happy to hear your comment. 🙂
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I love nature and I enjoy growing succulents (easy to maintain with medicinal properties such as aloe). Continue doing your works and showing how beautiful this Earth that we live on is. Much respect for you and your journeys.
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Thank you for kind words of appreciation. I feel we know very little about the world around us. Nature is truly remarkable and we should observe and learn from this strong force that is present around us. What kind of succulents are in your region? looks like you have some knowledge about plants 🙂
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Actually I remember this from Childhood because my Mom was growing it in a pot! Yes. I remember it because of its beautiful flowers and the milky sap. I don’t remember if the sap used to itch or not, but my Mom had is trucked us kids to strictly stay away from it. But then she used to say that about every plant at home because she loved her plants too much 😀
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Happy to know that your mom loved plants. So did that inspire you to plant few at your home?
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Totally. Always saw her puttering around with pots. Even my MIL is a huge gardening enthusiast. So I learnt from her too. If I could I’d put a plant in every corner of the house but eh… They are very snooty buggers
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I thought a “Garhwali” will love trees and plants like the fish and water. 😉
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I do 😁😁😁
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Found them in abunadnce at Hampi, Karnataka as well, and they were in full bloom, creating beautiful contrasts with the brown and red boulders…
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I haven’t been to Hampi but I’m making a mental imagery of how it will look like with the surroundings. Have you captured it? Thanks for the information. 😃
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Hey Thank you
I did capture it in bloom, and I m thankfull to you for the info about the Leafless Milk hedge, as I wasa searching for the plant species…not sure how to share the pic though..:P
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I guess you will be making a post on Hampi visit, you can include this picture too.
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Sure thing mate… 🙂
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