Health Dictionary
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Euphorbia resinifera
Introduction
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.