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My son brought home a sapling, and after 4 years in a pot it is now about 30 cm or a foot high (from the "ground" to the top of the "stem"). It doesn't need a lot of water and can go weeks without being watered, in fact it seems to me as if it is storing water in the thicker upper part of its stem. When I water it "too much", new leaves start to grow. There are tiny "blossoms" along the stem, and every now and then small, dark brown, spherical seeds about 2 mm in diameter pop out from the "blossom" and are thrown across the room as far as a meter (about a yard) or two.

What plant is this?

I believe that it is not native to my European home but some kind of decorative plant imported and sold through a florist or imported privately, but I'm not sure.

enter image description here

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It is an Euphorbia leuconeura (Madagascar Jewel), which is native to Madagaskar. The leaves and the thick (waterstoring) stem with a narrow base is very typical.

The plant is cool in the sense that it easily produces seeds (also as potted) which it can shoot away from the plant. I've had it myself and you can sometimes hear seeds hitting the window or floor. Even if it is easy to grow and to reproduce it is actually considered threatened in its native habitat (IUCN Red-listed as Vulnerable) due to habitat loss

The flowers are very small and found directly on the stem, see below:
enter image description here
(picture from Wikipedia)

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    $\begingroup$ Thank you! It seems to be called a "spitting palmtree" in my mother tongue :-) $\endgroup$
    – user42019
    Apr 19, 2018 at 19:58
  • $\begingroup$ In Swedish, the translated name is sort of splash-a-way $\endgroup$
    – fileunderwater
    Apr 19, 2018 at 20:37

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