The Euphorbiaceae, part 2

Posted on December 24, 2016 by elizabeth

“Euphorbia” sounds like “euphoric”, so of course I spent a little time researching it. I found a detailed account that goes back to the Natural History of Pliny, first published in AD 79. Seems the plant was named for a physician, Euphorbus. “Euphoric” can be translated as “well-fed”; it’s from the Greek “euphoros”, which means “healthy”. The whole story, as well as much more detailed information about all aspects of the family, can be found at the Euphorbia Planetary Biodiversity Inventory Project website.

As for euphorbs in Maryland, we have maybe 40 species, roughly half of which are native. About a dozen of those natives are in the Maryland piedmont. And yet I’ve only seen one: flowering spurge, Euphorbia corollata. You might recognize it as the current wallpaper image on my blog. It’s also the white flowering plant I’m shooting in the current banner photo, also pictured below:

This was a magnificent specimen, standing about two and a half feet tall, growing right out of a cleft in the rock along the Billy Goat A trail near Great Falls. The plants seem to like rocky places, at least in the Potomac gorge. Watch for them blooming in August, also on Billy Goat B and at Serpentine Barrens Conservation Park.

Those white parts aren’t petals, of course; they’re bracts. The actual floral parts are contained in the cyathia in the very center. The whole structure measures about half an inch across.

This is a truly graceful plant, one of my favorites. I think it would be a lovely motif on a fabric.

The Euphorbiaceae, part 1

Posted on December 21, 2016 by elizabeth

The spurge family is one of the largest in the world, though exactly where it ranks is difficult to say for sure. There are almost 2,000 species in 300 genera worldwide (except the arctic and Antarctica). Most are tropical, and many are succulent, resembling cactuses; others are typical annual or perennial forbs, and a few are woody. It’s a family of great morphological diversity.

It’s also a family of great economic importance. Poinsettias are one of the most widely grown ornamentals. Natural rubber is made from the sap of Hevea brasiliensis. Cassava isn’t much known in the US, except in the form of tapioca, but it’s a staple food in many tropical regions; it comes from Manihot esculenta. The roots are eaten as a vegetable or dried and made into a flour.

Castor bean, Ricinus communis, is a particularly interesting plant, appearing on (or topping) lists of most poisonous plants in the world. It’s grown as an ornamental for its foliage, but is considered invasive in many places, and is highly allergenic, rating 10 out of 10 on the Ogren Plant Allergy Scale. The oil extracted from the seeds has industrial and medicinal uses, but the raw seeds contain a potent poison (ricin). Castor oil is even used in the manufacture of a food additive, polyglycerol polyricinoleate.

Species in the genus Euphorbia tend to have minute flowers. An involucre contains all the reproductive parts, collectively referred to as the cyathium. The cyathium consists of one carpellate (female) flower and several or many staminate (male) flowers surrounded by bracteoles (miniature bracts, or modified leaves). In many species there will be lipped glands (extrafloral nectaries) on the outside of the cyathium. This closeup of a poinsettia shows more than a dozen unopened cyathia with their nectaries, surrounded by the highly colored bracts.

Another characteristic common to many (but not all) euphorbs is the presence of a milky sap (latex) in the stems. Generally it’s caustic, more or less so depending on the species. It’s one field test to use when trying to identify plants, but not definitive, as ten percent of flowering plants contain latex*. At any rate, don’t get it on your skin.

Of course there are euphorbs in the Maryland piedmont, otherwise I wouldn’t be writing about them. More on those next time.

*Latex: A Model for Understanding Mechanisms, Ecology, and Evolution of Plant Defense Against Herbivory

Flowering Spurge

Posted on August 23, 2015 by elizabeth

Euphorbia corollata
Euphorbiaceae

There are about 48 native euphorbias found in the continental US, and 27 or so alien. Worldwide, there are almost 2000 Euphorbia species. Most of the native American species are not particularly showy, but this little charmer is exceptional. The plant can grow as tall as three feet, with an open, airy habit. It prefers the dry soils of open, sunny areas, and seemingly loves the bedrock terraces of the Potomac Gorge, growing right out of small pockets of sandy soil on the rocks.

The name “spurge” has the same Latin root as “purge”, for the reason you might expect: some species were once used medicinally for cleansing. Of the bowels.

Those white petals aren’t really petals, as I wrote last year. They’re bracts: modified leaves that look like petals, often functioning to attract pollinators to the tiny flowers within.

Euphorbias are complicated and interesting. As a matter of fact, there’s a website devoted to them. If you’re interested in details about the unique floral characteristics, check out the explanation here. It’s fascinating.

I’m not sure what’s so appealing about them. As with cranefly orchid, I would love to have a kimono made with a fabric printed with a flowering spurge design. They seem to have a Japanese aesthetic about them. I can’t quite explain it.

Speaking of Japanese aesthetics, they’re a good subject for bokeh.

Elizabeth's Wildflower Blog

hunting in the Maryland piedmont (mostly)

Tag Archives: Euphorbiaceae

The Euphorbiaceae, part 2

The Euphorbiaceae, part 1

Flowering Spurge