Euphorbia resinifera

Euphorbia resinifera (Resin spurge) is a species of spurge native to Morocco, where it occurs on the slopes of the Atlas Mountains.^[1]

It is a shrub growing to 60 cm tall, forming multi-stemmed cushion-shaped clumps up to 2 m wide. The stems are erect, succulent, superficially like a cactus (an example of convergent evolution in a similar semi-desert climate), four-angled, with short but sharp pairs of 6 mm spines on the angles, spaced about 1 cm apart up the stem.^[1]

It is similar to its relative Euphorbia echinus, which occurs on the Moroccan coast and the Canary Islands.

It contains a high concentration of resiniferatoxin and is being used to develop a novel and powerful class of analgesics.

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Huxley, A, ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. ISBN 0-333-47494-5

File:Koeh-059.jpg

19th century illustration

Template:Euphorb-stub

[rhs-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Huxley, A, ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. ISBN 0-333-47494-5

[1]

Euphorbia resinifera

References

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