EUPHORBIA SILENIFOLIA

This member of the Euphorbiaceae family was given this name by Robert Sweet in 1830. It is found on the Cape, South Africa, growing in a well drained soil with some water and lots of sun. The caudex can grow to seven centimetres in diameter, the whole plant up to 20 centimetres height. The flowers are 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 means 'with leaves like Silene ' a member of the Caryophyllaceae family - with narrow leaves. Photo by Ferdinand Poilodan.