Susan Carter has been quietly documenting the East African euphorbia flora and publishing new species at such a prodigious rate that the average collector is apt to miss one here and there. In the Jul-Aug 2000 issue of the Cactus and Succulent Journal six new species and a new variety were described. Among those was this choice cushion-forming species named in honor of its discoverer, Len Newton. It is about 10 cm tall and clumps can reach a diameter of 50 cm. Besides its distinctive habit, it is also distinguished from other more upright members of the E. tetracanthoides group in its stems bearing 5-spiralled angles rather than being quadrangular in cross section. Rooted cuts of HBG 91549, the clonotype, Newton & Liede 4429, collected 29 Dec 1993, 19.4 km NW of Farkwa, Kondoa Dist., Tanzania. $10.
Published in the Cactus and Succulent Journal, Vol. 77 (2), March - April, 2005