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Euphorbia triangularis Seeds
Chandelier Tree
Euphorbia is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Euphorbiaceae. Consisting of 2008 species, Euphorbia is the fourth largest genus of flowering plants. The family is primarily found in the tropical and subtropical regions of Africa and the Americas, but also in temperate zones worldwide. Succulent species originate mostly from Africa, the Americas and Madagascar. The common name "spurge" derives from the Middle English/Old French espurge ("to purge"), due to the use of the plant's sap as a medicinal purgative. The plants are annual or perennial herbs, woody shrubs or trees with a caustic, poisonous milky sap (latex). In the genus Euphorbia, succulence in the species has often evolved divergently and to differing degrees. Sometimes it is difficult to decide, and it is a question of interpretation, whether or not a species is really succulent or "only" xerophytic. About 850 species are succulent in the strictest sense. If one includes slightly succulent and xerophytic species, this figure rises to about 1000, representing about 45% of all Euphorbia species. Smaller Euphorbias make excellent potted plants while larger species are valuable landscaping plants. Euphorbia triangularis is a commonly known as Chandelier Tree, River Euphorbia or Tree Euphorbia in English and Driehoek-melkbos, Naboom, Noorsdoring or Rivier-naboom in Afrikaans is a South African indigenous species with a distribution range that reaches from the Eastern Cape, through KwaZulu-Natal and into Mpumalanga Province. Euphorbia triangularis can be 3, 4 or 5-angled. The 3-angled form occurs more often in the Eastern Cape and the 5-angled form in KwaZulu-Natal. It is a succulent, spiny tree, usually with a single trunk and several branches clustered in whorls and are the most common tree Euphorbia found in the Eastern Cape Province.