Euphorbia characias

Euphorbia characias
Euphorbia characias
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Subfamily: Euphorbioideae
Tribe: Euphorbieae
Subtribe: Euphorbiinae
Genus: Euphorbia
Species: E. characias
Binomial name
Euphorbia characias
L.

Euphorbia characias, the Mediterranean Spurge, is a flowering plant of the Euphorbiaceae family typical of the Mediterranean vegetation.

There are two main subspecies that are found in different regions of the Mediterranean Basin. These often overlap in the western areas of distribution:

It grows in the form of a shrub or bush with many stems and characteristic black or dark brown nectar glands in the cyathia. The fruits are smooth capsules. It is a tough perennial plant, capable of resisting long periods of drought. It grows preferably in dry areas, often far away from the freatic sheet, both in flat as well as in mountaineous terrain. This plant can also resist high salinity.[1]

Garden cultivars are commercialized under the names "Portuguese Velvet", "Black pearl", "Thelma's Giant", "Lambrook Gold", "Silver Swan" and "Tasmanian Tiger", among others. They come in a variety of colors, from silvery grey and bluish green to greenish yellow. These garden varieties are valued in Mediterranean or desert landscaping for not being highly demanding and for looking good despite lack of watering in sunny areas.[2]

This bush also has uses in traditional medicine; like many other species of genus Euphorbia[3] its toxic white and sticky sap has been used to treat skin excrecences, like cancers, tumors, and warts since ancient times.

References

  1. ^ Espècies d'habitats allunyades del freàtic
  2. ^ Mediterranean Landscaping
  3. ^ Lletereses (Catalan)

External links

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