Euphorbiaceae

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Euphorbiaceae

The Spurge
Spurge

Euphorbia is a genus of plants belonging to the family Euphorbiaceae. Consisting of about 2160 species, Euphorbia is one of the most diverse genera in the plant kingdom....
family (Euphorbiaceae) is a large family of flowering plant

Flowering plant

The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of Embryophytes. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of Spermatophyte....
s with 300 genera and around 7,500 species. Most are herb

Herb

A herb is a plant that is valued for qualities such as medicinal properties, flavor, scent, or the like....
s, but some, especially in the tropics

Tropics

The Tropics, seated in the equatorial regions of the world, are limited in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere at approximately 23?26' N latitude, and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere at 23?26' S latitude....
, are also shrub

Shrub

A shrub or bush is a horticulture rather than strictly Botany category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall....
s or tree

TREE

TREE was a Boston hardcore punk band formed in the summer of 1990. They were active in the Boston music scene until disbanding in 2002....
s. Some are succulent and resemble cacti

Cactus

A cactus is any member of the spine plant family Cactaceae, native to the Americas. They are often used as ornamental plants, but some are also Crop plants....
.

This family occurs mainly in the tropics, with the majority of the species in the Indo-Malayan region and tropical America

Americas

The Americas are the region of the Western hemisphere that consists of the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions....
a good second. There is a large variety in tropical Africa, but it is not as abundant or varied as in these two other tropical regions.

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Encyclopedia

Flowering plant

Herb

A herb is a plant that is valued for qualities such as medicinal properties, flavor, scent, or the like....
s, but some, especially in the tropics

Tropics

Shrub

TREE

TREE was a Boston hardcore punk band formed in the summer of 1990. They were active in the Boston music scene until disbanding in 2002....
s. Some are succulent and resemble cacti

Cactus

Americas

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
in non-tropical areas such as the Mediterranean Basin

Mediterranean Basin

The Mediterranean Basin refers to the lands around and surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea. In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin refers to the lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have a Mediterranean climate, with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers, which supports characteristic Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub...
, the Middle East

Middle East

File:GreaterMiddleEast1.pngThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, western Asia, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East....
, South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa, also known by Official names of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa....
, and southern USA.

The leaves

Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
are alternate, seldom opposite, with stipule

Stipule

In botany, stipule is a term coined by Carolus Linnaeus which refers to outgrowths borne on either side of the base of a leafstalk . A pair of stipules is considered part of the anatomy of the leaf of a typical flowering plant, although in many species the stipules are inconspicuous or entirely absent ....
s. They are mainly simple, but where compound, are always palmate, never pinnate. Stipules may be reduced to hairs, glands, or spines, or in succulent species are sometimes absent.

The radially symmetrical flower

Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproduction structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds....
s are unisexual, with the male and the female flowers usually occurring on the same plant. As can be expected from such a large family, there is a wide variety in the structure of the flowers. They can be monoecious

Plant sexuality

Plant sexuality covers the wide variety of sexual reproduction systems found across the plant kingdom. This article describes Morphology aspects of sexual reproduction of plants....
or dioecious

Plant sexuality

Plant sexuality covers the wide variety of sexual reproduction systems found across the plant kingdom. This article describes Morphology aspects of sexual reproduction of plants....
. The stamen

Stamen

The stamen is the male organ of a flower. Each stamen generally has a stalk called the filament , and, on top of the filament, an anther , and pollen sacs, called sporangium....
s (the male organs) can number from 1 to 10 (or even more). The female flowers are hypogynous, that is, with a superior ovary

Ovary (plants)

In the flowering plants, an ovary is a part of the female reproductive organ of the flower or gynoecium. Specifically, it is the part of the carpel which holds the ovule and is located above or below or at the point of connection with the base of the petals and sepals....
.

The genera in tribe Euphorbieae

Euphorbieae

Euphorbieae is a tribe of plant of the family Euphorbiaceae. It comprises 3 subtribes and 6 genus....
, subtribe Euphorbiinae (Euphorbia and close relatives) show a highly specialized form of pseudanthium

Pseudanthium

A pseudanthium or flower head is a special type of inflorescence, in which several flowers are grouped together to form a flower-like structure....
("false flower" made up of several true flowers) called a cyathium
Cyathium

The very special Pseudanthium in the genus Euphorbia are known as Cyathia. A cyathium consists of:* five bracteoles. These are small, united bracts, which form a cup-like involucre....
. This is usually a small cup-like involucre consisting of fused together bracts and peripheral nectary glands, surrounding a ring of male flowers, each a single stamen

Stamen

The stamen is the male organ of a flower. Each stamen generally has a stalk called the filament , and, on top of the filament, an anther , and pollen sacs, called sporangium....
. In the middle of the cyathium stands a female flower: a single pistil with branched stigmas. This whole arrangement resembles a single flower.

The fruit

Fruit

The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. In botany, which is the scientific study of plants, fruits are the ripened Ovary of flowering plants....
is usually a schizocarp

Schizocarp

A schizocarp is a dry fruit that develops from multiple carpels. When mature it splits up into one-seeded mericarps. The mericarp is either:...
, sometimes a drupe

Drupe

In botany, a drupe is a fruit in which an outer fleshy part surrounds a shell of hardened endocarp with a seed inside. These fruits develop from a single carpel, and mostly from flowers with superior ovary....
. A typical schizocarp is the regma, a capsular fruit with three or more cells, each of which splits open at maturity into separate parts and then breaks away explosively, scattering the small seeds.

The family contains a large variety of phytotoxin

Phytotoxin

Literally meaning "plant poison," a phytotoxin can refer to any toxin produced by a plant.Examples of phytotoxins include ricin, crotin, and amygdalin, the latter of which is present in harmless levels in apple seeds....
s (toxic substances produced by plants), mainly diterpene

Terpene

Terpenes are a large and varied class of hydrocarbons, produced primarily by a wide variety of plants, particularly conifers, though also by some insects such as termites or swallowtail butterflies, which emit terpenes from their osmeterium....
ester

Ester

An ester is an often Aroma compound organic chemistry or partially organic compound formed by the reaction between an acid and an alcohol or aromatic alcohol with the elimination of water....
s, alkaloid

Alkaloid

Alkaloids are naturally occurring chemical compounds containing base nitrogen atoms. The name derives from the word alkaline and was used to describe any nitrogen-containing base....
s, glycoside

Glycoside

In chemistry, glycosides are certain molecules in which a sugar part is bound to some other part. Glycosides play numerous important roles in living organisms....
s, and ricin

Ricin

Ricin is a protein toxin that is solvent extraction from the Castor oil plant .The US Centers for Disease Control gives a possible minimum figure of 500 micrograms for the lethal dose of ricin in humans if exposure is from injection or inhalation....
-type toxin

Toxin

A toxin is a poisonous substance produced by living cells or organisms. For a toxic substance not produced by living organisms, "toxicant" is the more appropriate term, and "toxics" is an acceptable plural....
s.

A milky sap or latex

LaTeX

LaTeX is a document markup language and Word processor for the TeX typesetting program. Within the typesetting system, its name is styled as ....
is a characteristic of the subfamilies Euphorbioideae

Euphorbioideae

The Euphorbioideae is a subfamily of the family Euphorbiaceae.See also*Taxonomy of the Euphorbiaceae...
and Crotonoideae

Crotonoideae

The Crotonoideae is a subfamily of the family Euphorbiaceae.See also*Taxonomy of the Euphorbiaceae...
. This milky sap is poison

Poison

In the context of biology, poisons are Chemical substance that can cause disturbances to organisms, usually by chemical reaction or other activity on the molecular scale, when a sufficient quantity is absorbed by an organism....
ous in the Euphorbioideae, but innocuous in the Crotonoideae. White mangrove (Excoecaria
Excoecaria

Excoecaria is a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae, comprising about 40 species. The genus is native to the Old World Tropics.The milky sap of Excoecaria agallocha, also known as milky mangrove, blind-your-eye mangrove and river poison tree, is poisonous....
agallocha), or Blind-Your-Eye Mangrove sap causes blistering on contact and temporary blindness if it contacts the eyes. Other common names are Milky Mangrove, Buta Buta (Malay

Malay language

The Malay language is an Austronesian languages spoken by the Malays and people of other ethnic groups who reside in Peninsular Malaysia, southern Thailand, Singapore, central eastern Sumatra, the Riau Islands and parts of the coast of Borneo....
), Gewa (Bangladesh

Bengali language

Bengali or Bangla is an Indo-European languages language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages....
). The sap of spurge

Spurge

Euphorbia is a genus of plants belonging to the family Euphorbiaceae. Consisting of about 2160 species, Euphorbia is one of the most diverse genera in the plant kingdom....
was used as a laxative

Laxative

Laxatives are foods, compounds, or drugs taken to induce bowel movements or to loosen the stool, most often taken to treat constipation. Certain stimulant, lubricant, and saline laxatives are used to evacuate the Colon for rectum and bowel examinations, and may be supplemented by enemas in that circumstance....
.

Recent molecular studies have shown that the enigmatic family Rafflesiaceae

Rafflesiaceae

Rafflesiaceae is a family of parasitic plants found in east and southeast Asia, including Rafflesia arnoldii, the plant with the largest flower of all plants....
, which was only recently recognized to belong to order Malpighiales

Malpighiales

The Malpighiales are a large order of flowering plants, included in the group named eurosids I in the recent Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification....
, is derived from within Euphorbiaceae (Davis et al. 2007).

Uses

A number of plants of the Spurge family are of considerable economic importance. Prominent plants include Cassava

Cassava

The cassava, cassadaIn page 25, Darwin says "Mandioca or cassada is likewise cultivated in great quantity."See it also in ,yuca, 'manioc, 'mogo...
(Manihot esculenta), Castor oil plant
Castor oil plant

The castor oil plant, Ricinus communis, is a species of flowering plant in the Euphorbia family, Euphorbiaceae. It belongs to a Monotype genus, Ricinus, and subtribe, Ricininae....
(Ricinus communis), Barbados nut (Jatropha curcas
Jatropha curcas

Jatropha curcas, Barbados nut or Physic nut is a perennial poisonous shrub belonging to the Euphorbiaceae or spurge family. It is an uncultivated non-food wild-species....
), and the Para rubber tree
Para rubber tree

The Par? rubber tree , often simply called rubber tree , is a tree belonging to the family Euphorbiaceae and the most economically important member of the genus Hevea....
(Hevea brasiliensis). Many are grown as ornamental plant
Ornamental plant

Ornamental plants are typically grown in the flower garden or as house plants. Most commonly they are grown for the display of their flowers. Other common ornamental features include leaves, scent, fruit, Plant stem and bark....
s, such as Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima). Leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula) and Chinese tallow
Chinese tallow

Triadica sebifera, also referred to as Sapium sebiferum, is commonly known as the Chinese tallow tree, Florida aspen and Gray Popcorn Tree....
(Sapium sebiferum) are invasive
Invasive species

Invasive species is a phrase with several definitions. The first definition expresses the phrase in terms of non-indigenous species that adversely affect the habitats they invade economically, environmentally or ecologically....
weeds in North America.