EUPHORBIA THINOPHILA

This member of the Euphorbiaceae family was given this name by Rodolfo Amando Philippi in 1873. It is found from Huasco to Carrizal Bajo in northern Chile, growing in sand or an other well drained soil with little to some water and some to lots of sun. The caudex can grow to five centimetres, the annual branches from five up to 50 centimetres. The flowers are red to almost black.

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 'thin lover'. The flowers by Claudio F. Vidal, Farsouthexp.com.