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The plants produce clusters of tiny white tubular flowers on branch tips.

These flowers are surrounded by modified leaves (papery bracts) with bright colors,

ranging from pink to white as well as shades of orange and yellow.

The variations are due to the presence of certain pigments. When petals

contain enough carotene, they will look yellow, orange and dark brown. Anthocyanin

is responsible for red, purple or blue colors.

The crown of thorns is a low growing, heavily branched, woody shrub,

with oval shaped leaves and dense stems covered by many sharp, spiny thorns.

It has brightly colored bracts, modified leaves, which resemble petals and give

the plant its colorful look while the true flowers are small.

Color of the bracts ranges from red to pink. There are also yellow to green

varieties. Pigments are responsible for the color of the bracts. The color-producing

pigments in flowers are flavonoids, which are commonly found in roses and produce red and blue

colors; carotenoids, which produce yellow and orange coloring and are present in marigolds and

sunflowers; and chlorophyll, the third pigment, which gives plants their green color. Through mixing

and matching these three pigments, new colors can be created in flowers. 

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 It is interesting to note that every stripe pattern is unique. No two tigers are

marked the same, much like a person's fingerprints. The orange colored tiger with

black stripes is, of course, the most prevalent. There are different shades of orangeranging from almost yellow to dark burnt orange. The stripes also vary in shade, size

and abundance. Some tigers will have dark, wide stripes while some have fewer 

stripes that are narrower.

Color and striping is controlled by gene groups that are inherited from the

parent's genes, the same as hair color in humans. A person may have dark hair and

that would be the trait they most likely would pass on to their children, especially if 

both parents have the same color gene.