Euphorbia resinifera

Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Euphorbia resinifera, Berg (E. San Salvador, Hort.). A much-branched shrub: branches 4-angled, spine- shields triangular-rounded, small, 3-5 lines apart. S.W. Morocco. G.Z. 19:102.—This species yields the euphorbium gum of the ancients. The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

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Plant Info
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Scientific classification
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Binomial name
Euphorbia resinifera A.Berger.
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Euphorbia resinifera (Resin spurge) is a species of spurge native to Morocco, where it occurs on the slopes of the Atlas Mountains.

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.

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

19th century illustration