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Euphorbia subg. Euphorbia

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Euphorbia in Southern Africa

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Abstract

Bisexual sometimes unisexual, sometimes large spineless shrubs with slender cylindrical branches or often dwarf to large spiny succulent shrubs or trees with slender to stout angled (cylindrical) branches often around a stouter stem or trunk with more angles than branches. Leaves alternate to opposite, ovate-lanceolate and fleshy to fleeting rudiments, usually arising on raised tubercles, stipules rarely glandular usually in form of small prickles, rarely absent. Synflorescences many near tips of branches in axils of tubercles or leaves on short peduncles, each a solitary (usually male) cyathium surrounded by opposite (whorled) scale-like bracts in whose axils further short peduncles usually arise each terminated by a further (usually bisexual) cyathium (rarely further rays developing around these cyathia – E. knuthii), bracts differently shaped to leaves. Cyathia bisexual or unisexual (in unisexual plants male cyathia larger than females); glands 1 and cupular with entire margins or 4–8 (10) and elliptic and flat with entire margins, without petaloid appendages; male florets with glabrous pedicels. Capsule deeply 3-lobed to obtusely 3- to 6-lobed and ± spherical, smooth (papillate), glabrous to pubescent, 3–30 mm diam., ± sessile to exserted, dehiscing explosively or occasionally drying up and falling apart on ground. Seeds 3–6 per capsule, ellipsoidal to spherical, smooth to slightly rugulose, rarely carunculate.

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  1. University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa

    Peter V. Bruyns

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Bruyns, P.V. (2022). Euphorbia subg. Euphorbia. In: Euphorbia in Southern Africa. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49399-8_3

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