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EUPHORBIA , in See also:botany, a, large genus of See also:plants from which the See also:order See also:Euphorbiaceae takes its name. It includes more than 600 See also:species and is of almost See also:world-wide See also:distribution. It is represented in See also:Britain by the spurges—small, generally smooth, herbaceous plants with See also:simple leaves and inconspicuous See also:flowers arranged in small See also:cup-like heads (cyathia). The cyathium is a characteristic feature of the genus, and consists of a number of male flowers, each reduced to a single stamen, surrounding a central See also:female See also:flower which consists only of a stalked See also:pistil; the See also:group of flowers is enveloped in a cup formed by the See also:union of four or five bracts, the upper See also:part of which bears thick, conspicuous, gland-like structures, which in See also:exotic species are often brilliantly. coloured, giving the cyathium the See also:appearance of a single flower. Another characteristic is the presence of a milky juice, or latex; in the tissues of the plant. In one See also:section of the genus the plants, resemble cacti, having a thick succulent See also:stem and ,branches with the leaves either very small or completely reduced to a small See also:wart-like excrescence, with which is generally associated a tuft of spines (a reduced shoot). These occur in the warmer parts of the world as a type of dry See also:country or See also:desert vegetation. The only species of See also:note are E. fulgens and E. jacquiniaeflora, for the warm greenhouse; E. Cyparissias (the See also:Cypress spurge), E. Wulfeni, E. Lathyris and E. Myrsinites, for the open See also:air. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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