EUPHORBIA DUSEIMATA

This member of the Euphorbiaceae family was given this name by Robert Allen Dyer in 1934. It is found in Botswana and South Africa, growing in a sandy drained soil with little to some water and some to lots of sun. The carrot-like root can grow to two and a half centimetre in diameter and 20 centimetres long. The medusa-like branches will form a rather flat cluster, up to 50 centimetres in diameter. The flowers are greenish white, sometimes with purple markings. The plant can be reproduced both by seeds and cuttings.

The genera name; Euphorbia dates back to the first century BC, where King Juba II of Mauritania used it in a reference to his doctor, Euphorbos, and that name was kept as a generic name by Carl von Linnaeus. The species name is an enigma so far... It was published in Flowering Plants of South Africa 14: 530. 1934. Latin duse means 'two', and mata means 'eye' or 'to ripe'.