Euphorbiaceae family: description and distribution

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:41

Euphorbia is a family of flowering plants. Most representatives have both poisonous and medicinal properties, so they are used in medicine. Such a plant, for example, is Fisher's spurge, widely used in Russia. Moreover, the Euphorbia family has a number of specific and interesting characteristics, which will be discussed in the article.

Description

Plants of the Euphorbia family in nature are found both in the form of large trees, and in the form of herbs, shrubs, vines and water plants. Most of them have special tissues for storing water (succulents), so it is easy to confuse them with cacti. These include spurge terrible and papillary.

A distinctive feature of plants of the Euphorbiaceae family is the white juice that runs down their stems from time to time. It resembles a milky viscous liquid. Because of this, the family got its name. However, not everyone has this symptom.the same: the juice may be clear.

From the point of view of biology, plants of the Euphorbiaceae family have regular, most often underdeveloped leaves. They have a dry fruit containing two seeds, which makes them a dicot.

Distribution

In the rainforests, tree-like plants of the Euphorbiaceae family are mainly found, which are powerful tall trees. In areas of Australia and Africa, where the climate is rather desert and arid, representatives of this family are more reminiscent of cacti or undersized shrubs. In the deserts of North America, creeping spurge is also found, which can reach a height of 13 meters.

Free-floating water lovers include Phyllanthus buoyant.

Reproduction

The Euphorbiaceae family reproduces both by seed and vegetatively, which often makes them weedy.

They are also grown indoors. In this case, you should be quite careful: after all, some members of the family are very poisonous. Moreover, there are pests of indoor plants. Such, for example, is the spider mite, which is not affected by euphorbia poisons.

Use for medicinal and other purposes

The Euphorbiaceae family is widely used in industry, medicine and some other areas, as its representatives have a number of useful properties.

For example, the juice of some of them is rich in rubber. Its main supplier is Hevea brasiliensis, which can be found on the Amazon.

In Africa, Asia, as well as in the subtropical and tropical zones of the hemispheres, castor bean is common, which is even specially grown for industrial purposes. Castor oil is obtained from it, used for medicinal purposes in medicine, as well as technical, necessary in industry.

Some members of the Euphorbia family contain poisons. For example, arrowheads were previously smeared with marcinella poison in order not to leave their enemies a chance of survival. And if the poison of the excecaria agalloha accidentally gets into the eye of a person, then the latter will lose the ability to see.

The cassava plant, which is specially grown in Africa, is safely eaten. Its roots are similar to potatoes and contain some starch. When cooked, the fruits are harmless, but when raw, they are poisonous. However, raw root crops are also processed: they are used to make cereal for porridge or flour for making cakes.

The juice secreted by Euphorbiaceae is used in perfumery.

The most beautiful Euphorbia and poinsettia are grown as indoor plants. During flowering they are very attractive. If such a plant bloomed at Christmas, it was called the "Christmas star" just because of the blooming flowers.

Europhytes are widely used in medicine. For example, Fisher's Euphorbia is popular in Russia. It is used as a blood purifier, tonic and stimulant. Moreover, it can be used to prevent the occurrencetumors.

Manchineel tree

This is a poisonous tree plant of the Euphorbiaceae family. It is also sometimes called the "tree of death" because of the dangerous poisonous milky sap. Included in the list of the most poisonous plants on the planet. Listed in the Guinness Book of Records.

You can meet the plant in Central America and the Caribbean islands.

The tree reaches 15 meters in height. Fruits are similar to medium-sized green, sometimes with a yellowish sheen, apples or tangerines, sweetish in taste and have a specific aromatic smell. After eating them, after a while, bitterness and burning are felt in the mouth. The poisonous juice that it contains can cause swelling of the larynx and respiratory tract, and then lead to death.

The plant has no special distinctive external features, at first glance it looks like an ordinary tree.

There were attempts to destroy it, but all ended in failure. As it turned out, all parts of marcinella are poisonous and cause severe burns if they come into contact with the skin.