Euphorbia candelabrum

Taxobox
name = "Euphorbia candelabrum"

---

status =
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Magnoliopsida
ordo = Malpighiales
familia = Euphorbiaceae
genus = "Euphorbia"
species = "E. candelabrum"
binomial = "Euphorbia candelabrum"
binomial_authority =Kotschy
synonyms =

Euphorbia candelabrum is a succulent species of plant in the Euphorbiaceae family. Its Latin name derives from its growth habit, often considered to resemble the branching of a candelabrum. "E. candelabrum" is endemic to the Horn of Africa and eastern Africa along the Rift Valley system. It is known in Ethiopia by its Amharic name "qwolqwal".

Some authorities further divide this species into two sub-species, "Euphorbia candelabrum var. bilocularis" and "Euphorbia candelabrum var. candelabrum".

"E. candelabrum" was used in traditional Ethiopian medicine. Mixed with clarified honey, its sap was used as a purgative to cure syphilis, and when mixed with other medicinal plants as a salve to treat the symptoms of leprosy. [Richard Pankhurst, "An Introduction to the Medical History of Ethiopia" (Trenton: Red Sea Press, 1990), pp. 76, 91] This plant currently has negligible commercial value, although Richard Pankhurst documents two different attempts near Keren in Eritrea to collect its gum before 1935, but neither attempt proved commercially viable. [Richard Pankhurst, "Economic History of Ethiopia" (Addis Ababa: Haile Selassie I University, 1968), p. 206]

Notes

External links

* [http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?16354 Taxon: "Euphorbia candelabrum" Kotschy] Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN)