Kingdom: Plantae
Divisi: Magnoliphyta
Classis: Magnoliopsida
Order: Malphigiales
Family: Euphobiaceae
Genus: Euphorbia
Species: Euphorbia tirucalli L.
Local name: Patah tulang
E. tirucalli is a
flowering shrub or tiny tree which can grow up to (4–12) m tall and about
(15–20) cm in stem width with straight twigs. It is smooth, cylindrical,
terete, polished, whorled branchlets not much thicker than a quill which bear
in the rainy season.
Leaves are small
linear-oblong, spotted and oblanceolate about (1.3–2.5) cm lengthy and
2 cm broad. They are nearby only at tips of youthful branchlets and
extremely rapidly deciduous, great tips of young leafy branchlets lightly
tomentose among rounded coffee hairs.
Flowers are very tiny,
fair, bottle green prearranged in group lying on terminal twigs, judicious and
group at the tip of small branches. Cymes are 2–6 overcrowded at the apex of
the branchlets. The forking is 2–4 times with heat less than 1 mm extended
producing a thick cluster of cyathia which increasing only chaps flowers.
Plants usually produce male flowers. Female involucres are consisting of
bracteoles present and rarely a small number of chaps' flowers. The perianth is
distinctly 3-lobed below the tomentose ovary with 0.5 mm long lobes.
Styles are 2 mm long and united at the support with thicken extremely
bifid re-curved apex.
Fruit is glabrescent
capsule on top of a tomentose pedicel to 1 cm lengthy and yellowish red
while ripe and drop off simply. They have tripartite capsule and it dealings
about (8–12) mm in width. Capsules are dehiscing even as still on the tree.
Seeds are oval an about
(3.0–4.0) × (2.8–3.0) mm dimension, soft, glabrous, buff spotted with
brown and with a dark coffee ventral line around the little fair caruncle.
Benefit: The common name rubber-hedge euphorbia refers to its widespread use as planted hedges around smallholdings, habitations and livestock pens, which help to keep intruders out. The latex, as in other euphorbias, is very toxic and may cause blindness, blisters on the skin, and even prove fatal if enough of it is swallowed. There is at least one recorded case of it causing death from gastro-intestinal haemorrhage. In traditional medicine it is regarded as a cure for sexual impotence and an antidote for snakebite. The use of various euphorbias including E. tirucalli as a fish poison is also well documented.
Rubber-hedge euphorbia was once thought to be a species that could yield true rubber, but numerous experiments have shown that the latex contains too high a percentage of resin. The plant as a whole contains 0.4% rubber and 5.1% latex. Products manufactured from the rubber were of a low quality. Efforts to use the resin in the manufacture of varnish were also doomed to failure as the product was not durable. The timber of E. tirucalli is white and harder than most related species but it is not put to use in South Africa. As it is not attacked by borers, it is used elsewhere as struts for roofs.
Location: Partere Park UPI
Synonyms:
Arthrothamnus bergii Klotzsch & Garcke
Arthrothamnus ecklonii Klotzsch & Garcke
Arthrothamnus tirucalli (L.) Klotzsch & Garcke
Euphorbia geayi Costantin & Gallaud
Euphorbia laro Drake
Euphorbia media N.E.Br.
Euphorbia rhipsaloides Lem.
Euphorbia scoparia N.E.Br.
Euphorbia suareziana Croizat
Euphorbia viminalis Mill.
Tirucalia indica Raf.
Tirucalia tirucalli (L.) P.V.Heath
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