EUPHORBIA ESCULENTA

This member of the Euphorbiaceae family was given this name by Hermann Wilhelm Rudolf Marloth in 1908. It is found in Eastern Cape, South Africa, from Uitenhage to Jansenville, Graaf-Reinett and Somerset East. It is growing in a well drained soil with some water and lots of sun. The caudex can grow to twelve centimetres in diameter while the whole cluster of branches reach 25 centimetres in height an up to 40 centimetres in diameter. The woolly-like flowers are white with yellow sex-organs.

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 means 'edible', and the farmers have been using these plants to feed their stock. It is now listed on CITES, list II. The caudex - or what you like to call it.