EUPHORBIA ESPINOSA

This member of the Euphorbiaceae family was given this name by Ferdinand Albin Pax in 1894. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe, growing in a well drained soil with some water and some to lots of sun. The caudex can grow to eight centimetres in diameter, the entire plant to two metres in height and when creeping; four metres in diameter. The flowers are yellowish-green.

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 from Latin; e-: 'without' and spinosus; ' thorns'. The leaves by Rob Burrett, Eol.org. The pealing bark by Robert Burrett, Bbotswanaflora.com.