The poinsettia is a commercially important flowering plant species of the diverse spurge family Euphorbiaceae. Indigenous to Mexico and Central America, the poinsettia was first described by Europeans in 1834. It is particularly well known for its red and green foliage and is widely used in Christmas floral displays. It derives its common English name from Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first United States minister to Mexico, who is credited with introducing the plant to the US in the 1820s. Poinsettias are shrubs or small trees, with heights of 0.6 to 4 m. Though often stated to be highly toxic, the poinsettia is not dangerous to pets or children. Exposure to the plant, even consumption, most often results in no effect, though it can cause nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea.
Euphorbia heterophylla, also known under the common names of Mexican fireplant, painted euphorbia, Japanese poinsettia, paintedleaf, painted spurge and milkweed, is a plant belonging to the Euphorbiaceae or spurge family.
Chamaesyce is a genus of plants in the family Euphorbiaceae. Recent phylogenetic studies have shown that Chamaesyce is deeply nested within the broader Euphorbia. Specifically, Chamaesyce is very closely related to plants like Euphorbia pulcherrima, the popular poinsettia. Currently, all species have now been reclassified as species of Euphorbia. Specifically, this group now belongs to Euphorbia subgenus Chamaesyce section Anisophyllum. Taxonomically speaking, Chamaesyce is considered a synonym of Euphorbia.
Euphorbia tithymaloides is a perennial succulent spurge. An erect shrub, the plant is also known by the scientific name Pedilanthus tithymaloides. However, the genus Pedilanthus has been submerged into the genus Euphorbia, and is more correctly known by its new name.
Euphorbia milii, the crown of thorns, Christ plant, or Christ's thorn, is a species of flowering plant in the spurge family Euphorbiaceae, native to Madagascar. The species name commemorates Baron Milius, once Governor of Réunion, who introduced the species to France in 1821.
Euphorbia maculata, known as spotted spurge, prostrate spurge, milk purslane, or spotted sandmat, is a fast-growing annual plant in the family Euphorbiaceae. While it is native to North America, where it is a common garden and lawn weed in the United States, it has become a common introduced species throughout the world, including Europe, Japan, Korea, Australia, and New Zealand.
A cyathium is one of the specialised pseudanthia forming the inflorescence of plants in the genus Euphorbia (Euphorbiaceae). A cyathium consists of:
Astrophytum asterias is a species of cactus in the genus Astrophytum, and is native to small parts of Texas in the United States and Mexico. Common names include sand dollar cactus, sea urchin cactus, star cactus and star peyote.
Euphorbia misera is a semi-succulent shrub in the genus Euphorbia commonly known as the cliff spurge or coast spurge. A drought-deciduous shrub, it is typically found as a gnarled, straggly plant occupying seashore bluffs, hills and deserts. Like other members of its genus, it has a milky sap, which can be found exuding out of the light gray bark when damaged. The alternately-arranged leaves are round and folded in the middle, with small hairs on them. The "flowers" can be found blooming year-round, and are colored maroon or yellow in the center with 5 white to light-yellow petal-like appendages attached outside. This species is native to the Baja California peninsula and Sonora in Mexico, and the coast of southern California in the United States, where it is a rare species. It is threatened in some localities by the development of its coastal habitat, which tends to be prime locations for high-end residential and commercial developments.
Euphorbia canariensis, commonly known as the Canary Island spurge, Hercules club or in Spanish cardón, is a succulent member of the genus Euphorbia and family Euphorbiaceae endemic to the Canary Islands. It is the plant symbol of the island of Gran Canaria.
Euphorbiaceae, the spurge family, is a large family of flowering plants. In English, they are also commonly called euphorbias, which is also the name of the type genus of the family. Most spurges, such as Euphorbia paralias, are herbs, but some, especially in the tropics, are shrubs or trees, such as Hevea brasiliensis. Some, such as Euphorbia canariensis, are succulent and resemble cacti because of convergent evolution. This family has a cosmopolitan global distribution. The greatest diversity of species is in the tropics; however, the Euphorbiaceae also have many species in nontropical areas of all continents except Antarctica.
Euphorbia micromera is a species of flowering plant in the family Euphorbiaceae. It is known by the common name Sonoran sandmat. It is native to the southwestern United States from California to Texas, and northern Mexico, where it grows in sandy soils in desert and other dry habitat. It is an annual herb forming a small mat of slender stems. The hairy to hairless leaves are oblong in shape and just a few millimeters long. The tiny inflorescence is a cyathium less than a millimeter wide. It lacks the appendages that many similar species have in their cyathia. It has only a central female flower and 2 to 5 male flowers surrounded by round red nectar glands. The fruit is a minute round capsule.
Euphorbia revoluta is a species of euphorb known by the common name threadstem sandmat. It is native to Mexico and the southwestern United States from California to the Rocky Mountains. It is an annual herb producing thin, erect stems with pairs of linear leaves, each leaf up to 2.6 centimeters long. The inflorescence is a cyathium with rounded nectar glands surrounding one female flower and several male flowers. There are sometimes white petal-like appendages as well. The Navajo used this plant as a skin lotion.
Euphorbia balsamifera is a flowering plant in the spurge family Euphorbiaceae. It is distributed in the Canary Islands and the western Sahara. It is the vegetable symbol of the island of Lanzarote. Euphorbia adenensis has been treated as a subspecies of this species.
The Huntington Desert Garden is part of The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California. The Desert Garden is one of the world's largest and oldest collections of cacti, succulents and other desert plants, collected from throughout the world. It contains plants from extreme environments, many of which were acquired by Henry E. Huntington and William Hertrich in trips taken to several countries in North, Central and South America. One of the Huntington's most botanically important gardens, the Desert Garden brought together a group of plants largely unknown and unappreciated in the beginning of the 1900s. Containing a broad category of xerophytes, the Desert Garden grew to preeminence and remains today among the world's finest, with more than 5,000 species in the 10 acre garden.
Euphorbia celastroides is a flowering plant in the family Euphorbiaceae. It is referred to by the common name 'akoko by Hawaiians, and is a species of spurge closely related to the poinsettia. This species develops into a round-shape shrub. This species is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands.
Euphorbia royleana is a species of flowering plant in the family Euphorbiaceae. It is also known as Sullu spurge, and Royle's spurge. It is a succulent and almost cactus like in appearance although unrelated. It grows right across the Himalaya mountains from Pakistan, India, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal to western China, It prefers dry and rocky slopes between 1000 and 1500 meters, but has been found up to 2000 meters. Flowering and fruiting is in spring to early summer (March–July) and seeding is in June–October. It is used as a hedging plant in northern India and has medicinal uses.
Euphorbia missurica, commonly called prairie sandmat, or Missouri spurge, is a species of flowering plant in the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae). It is native to North America, where it is found primarily in area of the Great Plains. Its natural habitat is in dry, often calcareous areas, including glades, bluffs, and open woodlands.
Euphorbia bicolor, commonly known as snow on the prairie, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Euphorbia, native to the southern United States. It grows 1-4 feet tall, has green and white alternate leaves, and is monoecious with unisexual flowers. It grows in hard clay soils of prairies, rangelands, and edges of forests.
Euphorbia nivulia is a subtropical succulent species of flowering plant in the family Euphorbiaceae. It is found in the Indian subcontinent and is commonly known as the leafy milk hedge, holy milk hedge or dog's tongue.
