Euphorbia lathyris | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Malpighiales |
Family: | Euphorbiaceae |
Genus: | Euphorbia |
Species: | E. lathyris |
Binomial name | |
Euphorbia lathyris | |
Synonyms | |
Euphorbia lathyrus( lapsus ) |
Euphorbia lathyris, the caper spurge or paper spurge, is a species of spurge native to Asia in western China, Kirgizstan and Pakistan and introduced elsewhere. [1] [2] [3] [4]
Other names occasionally used include gopher spurge, gopher plant or mole plant. [2]
It is an erect biennial (occasionally annual) plant growing up to 1.5 m tall, with a glaucous blue-green stem. The leaves are arranged in decussate opposite pairs, and are lanceolate, 5–15 cm long and 1-2.5 cm broad, glaucous blue-green with a waxy texture and pale greenish-white midrib and veins. The flowers are green to yellow-green, 4 mm diameter, with no petals. The seeds are green ripening to brown or grey, produced in globular clusters 13–17 mm diameter of three seeds compressed together. [4] [5]
All parts of the plant, including the seeds and roots, are poisonous. Handling may cause skin irritation as the plant produces latex. While poisonous to humans and most livestock, goats sometimes eat it and are immune to the toxin. However, the toxin can be passed through the goat's milk. [6]
Away from its native range, it is widely naturalised in many regions, where it is often considered an invasive weed. [2] [3] [5] It grows in partial shade to full sun in USDA zones 5–9.
It is used in folk medicine as a remedy for cancer, corns, and warts and has purportedly been used by beggars to induce skin boils. [7]
Euphorbia is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants, commonly called spurge, in the family Euphorbiaceae.
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Euphorbia maculata, known as spotted spurge, prostrate spurge, milk purslane, or spotted sandmat, is a fast-growing annual plant in the family Euphorbiaceae. It is native to North America, where it is generally considered a common weed, it can be found in disturbed soils such as garden beds, along railroad tracks, and in the cracks of sidewalks. It has become a common introduced species throughout the world, including Europe, Japan, Korea, Australia, and New Zealand.
Comarum palustre, known by the common name marsh cinquefoil, also purple marshlocks and swamp cinquefoil, is a waterside rhizomatous subshrub. It has a circumboreal distribution, occurring throughout cool temperate Asia, Europe, and North America, particularly in northern regions. It is most commonly found on lake shores, marshy riversides and stream margins, often partly submerged with foliage floating. It is a parent of some Fragaria–Comarum hybrids, ornamental plants produced by crossing with strawberries.
Macrozamia glaucophylla is a species of cycad from the genus Macrozamia and the family Zamiaceae. Endemic to New South Wales, Australia, this species has features that resembles palms, although both species are taxonomically quite different. The current population trend of Macrozamia glaucophylla is stable with 2,500 to 10,000 mature individuals. The species are found in several habitats including forest and savanna. Ecologically, Macrozamia glaucophylla lives in terrestrial system, a land-based community of organisms where the biotic and abiotic components interact in the given area.
Euphorbia corollata is an herbaceous perennial plant in the family Euphorbiaceae that is native to North America. A common name for the species is flowering spurge. It has a milky sap that can cause skin and eye irritation in some people. It grows up to 1 m (3 ft) tall, with smooth stems and light green leaves arranged alternately or in whorls. Leaves are about 10 mm wide and 75 mm (3 in) long. Each stem terminates in a panicle 20 to 25 mm across. Flowers are about 6 mm across and consist of one pistillate and several staminate flowers surrounded by five white bracts - not petals but formed from the involucre at the base of the flowers. Flowering spurge blooms from June to September.
Euphorbia paralias, the Sea Spurge, is a species of flowering plant in the family Euphorbiaceae, native to Europe, northern Africa and western Asia.
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.
Iris hellenica is a plant species in the genus Iris and the subgenus Iris. It is a rhizomatous perennial, from Saitas Mountain, in the Peloponnese Region of Greece. It has grey-green, sickle-shaped leaves, a tall slender stem, 2–3 white, lavender-blue, lilac or purple flowers and orange/purple beards. It was thought once to be a hybrid species of Iris germanica which also grows in the same area, before being separated into 2 species. It has only recently been published and is rarely cultivated as an ornamental plant in temperate regions.
Euphorbia aaron-rossii, also known as the Marble Canyon spurge, is a perennial, herbaceous plant species of Euphorbia native to Arizona. It's most closely related to E. strictior and E. wrightii, but needs more study.
Euphorbia virgata, commonly known as leafy spurge, wolf's milk leafy spurge, or wolf's milk is a species of spurge native to Europe and Asia, and introduced in North America, where it is an invasive species.
Euphorbia neriifolia, also known as Indian spurge tree, hedge Euphorbia, Oleander spurge and fleshy spurge, is a species of spurge native to India, which was originally described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753. Leaves from the plant are used in traditional kajal making in West Bengal, India.