SPECIES DESCRIPTION
EUPHORBIA ACANTHOTHAMNOS
Family and Genus:- See- EUPHORBIACEAE/Subgen. ESULA/Sect.
Common Names:- Greek spiny spurge
Homotypic Synonyms:- Tithymalus acanthothamnos
Meaning:- Euphorbia (L) For Euphorbus, physician to the King of Mauritania.
Acanthothamnos (Gr) Thorn bush.
General description:- Glabrous, intricately branched shrub 10-30 cm, with the
branches usually terminating in paired spines formed from the indurated, forked
rays of the umbels. Perennial.
Leaves:-
1) Cauline, and ray-leaves, elliptical to elliptic-obovate, obtuse or acute, entire.
2) Raylet-leaves, cuneate-obovate, yellow.
Flowers:-
1) Radially symmetrical, orange yellow, joined together in umbels with 3 or 4 rays.
2) Bracts, gilded yellow wider and shorter than the underlying leaf.
3) Rays, 3(-4).
Fruit:-
1) Capsule, 3-4 mm, sulcate, with short, conical tubercles.
2) Seeds, 2 mm, smooth, brown.
Key features:-
1) Capsule, not cristate, with elongated or hemispherical tubercles.
2) Shrubs, with slender stems.
3) Rays, of the umbel and dead twigs persistent.
4) Seeds, smooth or nearly so.
Habitat:- This summer-deciduous “spiny shrub” is an important constituent of open
dry shrubby vegetation of, hot and rocky slopes near the sea, generally, 0-2000 m.
Distribution:- Almost a Greek endemic, but just extending to SW Anatolia.
Widespread and common on Crete.
Flowering time:- Mar-May.
Photos by:- Steve Lenton
