This species is from eastern Uganda and western Kenya. This spiny shrub has four-angled stems with slight variegation and a nearly continuous spine shield that becomes continuous with age. The epithet comes from the fact that plants in the wild have a decreasing size of spines with height on the stems. The cyathia are yellow to orange with crimson undersides. We previously sold these plants as Euphorbia atroflora, which it resembles. These plants are rooted cuttings in one-gallon pots.