EUPHORBIA PEDILANTHOIDES

This member of the Euphorbiaceae family was given this name by Marcel M. Denis in 1921. It is found in western Madagascar, growing in a well drained sandy soil in dry forests with some water and some sun. The swollen roots can grow to twelve centimetres in diameter, the entire plant to 100 or even 150 centimetres in height. The flowers are red tubes.

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 'resembling Pedilanthus', another genera in the Euphorbiaceae. Photo by PalmBob.