Euphorbia resinifera

Revision as of 20:10, 27 September 2011 by WikiBot (talk | contribs) (Protected "Euphorbia resinifera": Protecting pages from unwanted edits ([edit=sysop] (indefinite) [move=sysop] (indefinite)))
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Euphorbia resinifera
File:Euphorbia resinifera.jpg
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Genus: Euphorbia
Species: E. resinifera
Binomial name
Euphorbia resinifera
A.Berger.

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[citation needed].

References

  1. 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