Euphorbia

Cypress spurge Euphorbia cyparissias, from here.

Belongs within: Euphorbiaceae.

Euphorbia is a very large genus of flowering plants, most diverse in drier parts of the tropics. Species are diverse in appearance, including herbs, trees and cactus-like succulents. Some species are popular ornamentals, such as the poinsettia Euphorbia pulcherrima, though the latex sap of species in this genus can be noticeably caustic. The crown-of-thorns E. milii is a particularly spiny species that Other notable species include the petty spurge E. peplus, a native of Europe and western Asia that has become naturalised in many other parts of the world including North America and Australasia. The caper spurge E. lathyris is a similarly widespread Eurasian native whose caustic sap is known for causing blisters on contact with skin.

Characters (from Ma & Gilbert): Herbs (annual, biennial, or perennial), shrubs, or trees, very rarely subscandent, sometimes rhizomatous, monoecious or, rarely in Flora area, dioecious; indumentum of simple hairs, often absent, all parts with abundant white, very rarely yellow, latex; roots fibrous or tuberous. Stems sometimes succulent, terete or variously winged or tuberculate. Leaves alternate or opposite, rarely verticillate; stipules present or not, sometimes modified into glands or prickles; petiole often ill-defined to absent; leaf blade usually entire, sometimes serrulate or dentate. Inflorescence a flowerlike cyathium, single or often several in terminal or axillary, dichasial or monochasial cymes often in a "pseudumbel" with a terminal, more or less sessile cyathium subtended by a whorl of pedunculate cymes, each subtended by an involucral leaf; cyathium consisting of a bowl-shaped to tubular involucre subtended by a pair of bracts, "cyathophylls," enclosing several clusters of male flowers and 1 central female flower, occasionally cyathia unisexual, involucre margin with 4 or 5 lobes, cyathial glands (1-)4 or 5(-7), mostly alternating with involucral lobes, sometimes with petaloid appendages or a pair of horns. Male flower reduced to a single stamen, with an articulation at junction of pedicel and filament, subtended by slender bracteoles. Female flower pedicellate, reduced to a single ovary, rarely subtended by a very reduced perianth; ovary 3-loculed; ovules 1 per locule; styles 3, free, sometimes partly connate; stigma 2-lobed or not, more or less capitate. Fruit a capsule, breaking into 3 2-valved cocci, dehiscence usually explosive, very rarely almost indehiscent. Seeds 1 per locule, globose to ovoid or more or less cylindric; caruncle present or not; endosperm abundant; cotyledons large.

<==Euphorbia Linnaeus 1753 A61 [incl. Chamaesyce E03; Euphorbieae]
    |--E. abyssinica DL07
    |--E. abramsiana [=Chamaesyce abramsiana] H93
    |--E. acanthothamnos S98
    |--E. acaulis KJ05
    |--E. albomarginata [=Chamaesyce albomarginata] H93
    |--E. alsiniflora LK14
    |--E. amygdaloides HH03
    |--E. angrae CV06
    |--E. antiquorum P88
    |--E. arguta BG96
    |--E. arizonica [=Chamaesyce arizonica] H93
    |--E. armstrongiana LK14
    |--E. atoto LK14
    |--E. australis [=Chamaesyce australis] H90
    |--E. baliola CV06
    |--E. balsamifera GC05
    |--E. bifida LK14
    |--E. biglandulosa P93
    |--E. caducifolia PP07
    |--E. calyptrata P93
    |--E. caperonioides CV06
    |--E. chamaesyce Y98
    |--E. chamaesycoides CV06
    |--E. characias C55a
    |--E. cibdela CV06
    |--E. clarkeana PP07
    |--E. cornuta BG96
    |--E. crenulata H93
    |--E. cyathophora LK14
    |--E. cyparissias C55b
    |--E. cyparissioides P93
    |--‘Chamaesyce’ dallachyana H90
    |--E. damarana CV06
    |--E. davidii H90
    |--E. deflexa Sibthorp & Smith 1809 PL04
    |--E. dendroides P05
    |--E. dentata H93
    |--E. depauperata H90
    |    |--E. d. var. depauperata H90
    |    `--E. d. var. pubescens H90
    |--E. drummondii LK14 [=Chamaesyce drummondii H90]
    |--E. dulcis C55b
    |--E. epithymoides DL07
    |--E. eremophila [=E. tannensis ssp. eremophila] H90
    |--E. eriantha H93
    |--E. esula C55b
    |--E. exigua PT98
    |--E. exstipulata H93
    |--E. falcata H90
    |--E. fendleri [=Chamaesyce fendleri] H93
    |--E. friedrichiae CV06
    |--E. giessii CV06
    |--E. glauca Forst. f. 1786 A61
    |--E. glyptosperma [=Chamaesyce glyptosperma] H93
    |--E. granulata PP07
    |--E. guyoniana P93
    |--E. helioscopia C55b
    |--E. heterophylla LK14
    |--E. heyneane PP07
    |--E. himalayensis O88
    |--E. hirta LK14 [=Chamaesyce hirta ACW01]
    |--E. hooveri [=Chamaesyce hooveri] H93
    |--E. hypericifolia C55b [=Chamaesyce hypericifolia J87]
    |--‘Chamaesyce’ hyssopifolia MM96
    |--E. incisa H93
    |--E. indica PP07
    |--E. insarmentosa CV06
    |--E. juttae CV06
    |--E. kaokoensis CV06
    |--E. kimberleyensis LK14
    |--E. lathyrus H90
    |--E. lavrani CV06
    |--E. leistneri CV06
    |--E. leucocephala MM96
    |--E. macgillivrayi [=Chamaesyce macgillivrayi] H90
    |--E. maculata [=Chamaesyce maculata; incl. E. supina] H93
    |--E. marginata H90
    |--E. mauritanica CV06
    |    |--E. m. var. mauritanica CV06
    |    `--E. m. var. foetens CV06
    |--E. melanadenia [=Chamaesyce melanadenia] H93
    |--E. micromera [=Chamaesyce micromera] H93
    |--E. milii H90
    |--E. misera H93
    |--E. mitchelliana LK14
    |--E. monteiroi CV06
    |    |--E. m. ssp. monteiroi CV06
    |    `--E. m. ssp. brandbergensis CV06
    |--E. monticola BG96
    |--E. myrtoides LK14
    |--E. namibensis CV06
    |--E. namuskluftensis CV06
    |--E. neriifolia J07
    |--E. nicaeensis F05
    |--E. nutans [=Chamaesyce nutans] H93
    |--E. oblongata H93
    |--E. ocellata [=Chamaesyce ocellata] H93
    |    |--E. o. var. ocellata H93
    |    |--E. o. var. arenicola [=Chamaesyce ocellata ssp. arenicola] H93
    |    `--E. o. var. rattanii [=Chamaesyce ocellata ssp. rattanii] H93
    |--E. origanoides C55b [=Chamaesyce origanoides C79]
    |--E. otjipembana CV06
    |--E. ovalifolia C06
    |--E. palmeri H93
    |--E. palustris ZB01
    |--E. paralias C74
    |--E. parishii [=Chamaesyce parishii] H93
    |--E. parryi [=Chamaesyce parryi] H93
    |--E. parvicaruncula H90
    |--E. pediculifera [=Chamaesyce pediculifera] H93
    |--E. peploides BG96
    |--E. peplus Linnaeus 1753 PL04
    |--E. pergracilis CV06
    |--E. pilulifera C55b
    |--E. planiticola H90
    |--E. platyphyllos C55b
    |--E. platysperma [=Chamaesyce platysperma] H93
    |--E. plumerioides LK14
    |--E. polycarpa [=Chamaesyce polycarpa; incl. C. polycarpa var. hirtella] H93
    |--E. polygonifolia V72
    |--E. portlandica V09
    |--E. prostrata [=Chamaesyce prostrata] H93
    |--E. pseudoduseimata CV06
    |--E. pulcherrima MH98
    |--E. regis-jubae P93
    |--E. revoluta [=Chamaesyce revoluta] H93
    |--E. rudis CV06
    |--E. salicifolia C55b
    |--E. sarcostemmoides H90
    |--E. schimperiana BG96
    |--E. schizolepis LK14
    |--E. schultzii LK14
    |--E. serpens [=Chamaesyce serpens] H93
    |--E. serpyllifolia [=Chamaesyce serpyllifolia] H93
    |    |--E. s. var. serpyllifolia H93
    |    `--E. s. var. hirtula [=Chamaesyce serpyllifolia ssp. hirtula] H93
    |--E. serrata H93
    |--E. setiloba [=Chamaesyce setiloba] H93
    |--E. sharkoensis KM08
    |--E. sparrmanii [=Chamaesyce sparrmanii] H90
    |--E. spartaria CV06
    |--E. spathulata H93
    |--E. spinea CV06
    |--E. stevenii H90
    |--E. stracheyi O88
    |--E. tannensis LK14
    |--E. taurinensis PT98
    |--E. terracina P93
    |--E. thymifolia PP07 [=Chamaesyce thymifolia H90]
    |--E. tirucalli DP72
    |--E. tortilis RS02
    |--E. vallis-mortae [=Chamaesyce vallis-mortae] H93
    |--E. variegata PT01
    |--E. venenata CV06
    |--E. verruculosa CV06
    |--E. volkmanniae CV06
    `--E. wheeleri [=Chamaesyce wheeleri] H90

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

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[BG96] Baka, Z. A., & H. B. Gjaerum. 1996. Egyptian Uredinales. 1. Rusts on wild plants from the Nile Delta. Mycotaxon 60: 291–303.

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[J87] Judd, W. S. 1987. Floristic study of Morne La Visite and Pic Macaya National Parks, Haiti. Bulletin of the Florida State Museum—Biological Sciences 32 (1): 1–136.

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[KM08] Keighery, G. J., & W. Muir. 2008. Vegetation and vascular flora of Faure Island, Shark Bay, Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement 75: 11–19.

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[MH98] Morikawa, H., A. Higaki, M. Nohno, M. Takahashi, M. Kamada, M. Nakata, G. Toyohara, Y. Okamura, K. Matsui, S. Kitani, K. Fujita, K. Irifune & N. Goshima. 1998. More than a 600-fold variation in nitrogen dioxide assimilation among 217 plant taxa. Plant, Cell and Environment 21: 180–190.

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[O88] Ohba, H. 1988. The alpine flora of the Nepal Himalayas: an introductory note. In: Ohba, H., & S. B. Malla (eds) The Himalayan Plants vol. 1. The University Museum, University of Tokyo, Bulletin 31: 19–46.

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Last updated: 24 April 2021.