EU'PHOR'BIA. Sec SPURGE; EUPIIORBIACE.E.
t. nom. pl., from Lat. cuphorbeum, euphorbee, Gk. Ero6pi3/01,, en phorbion. the plant spurge; named in honor of Eupho•bus, a celebrated Greek physician at the Mauretanian Court). A very extensive order of dicotyledonous plants. the 'spurge family,' con taining 2•0 genera and upward of 4000 species— trees. shrub;, and herbaceous plant s. They abound chiefly in warm 'countries. and most of all hi tropical America'. The few species found in the colder parts of the world are all herba ceous. The common box readies a more north ern limit than any other shrubby specie~. The species common to the United States are differ ent kinds of spurge ( Euphorbia ), croton, th•ee seeded mercury, spurge-nettle, and queen's-de light. The Euphorbiace:e usually :11)0111)(1 in an acrid and poisonous milky juice, although there are species of which the juice is bland, or becomes bland through the application of heat, so that their leaves may be used as food. The leaves in this order exhibit great diversities. The inflorescence is also various. Nearly every type of inflorescence is found in this order. The flowers are always unisexual, and may be dolls Or diaTiallS, in Soak' species the perianth con sists of one or two whorls, in others it is wholly absent; When present, it is usually live-iiiirted. The stamens are one to ninny and variously united. The Ovary is usually three-lobed, the ear
pels splitting elastically and throwing the seed to some distance. This is shown well in the drying of casto•-beans. Among those remarkable for the acridity of their juice are the manehineel (q.v.) and Exwcaria Agallocha, an East Indian tree, formerly supposed to yield one of the kinds of aloes-wood, the smoke from the burning of which is extremely irritating to the eyes. The juice of ninny of the spurges 'is also very acrid. Slav of the Euphorbineew are valued for their medicinal properties, different parts of the plant being in some instances employed, and in some the resin and oils which they contain. Many of the Euphorbiaeerc yield valuable products—rub ber, eassava, castor oil, eroton oil, euphorbia oil, candlenut, eascarilla, African teak, etc. (See SIANmoT.) Others, such as Croton and Codireums, are often cultivated in gardens and hothouses, more frequently for their curious ap pearance than for their beauty; hut the large scarlet bracts of Euphorbia pulcherrima, a na tive of Slexieo, are very attractive. The prin cipal genera are Phyllanthus, Croton, Mer curialis, Aealypha, Hiehms, Daleehampia, He•en, Jatropha, Slanihot, Codirenm, Stillingia, Mira. Euphorbia, Poranthera, and Ilicinoearpus. See Plate of EDELWEISS.