Euphorbia pulcherrima Willd. ex Klotzsch

Habit

Shrub

Family Description

Trees, shrubs or herbs often with milky sap, indumentum of simple or stellate hairs, rarely peltate sceles, leaves alternate skometimes opposite or palmate at base usually stipulate. Monoeacious or dioecious; flowers small, solitary or in clusters, spikes, racemes, pannicles or cymes or in cup like cyathia, unisexual actinomorphic. calyx of 3-6 fee partly united segements, petals 3-6 lr often abscent. stamens 2-many, free or variously united into a column or bundles. Ovary superior 2-4 celled. styles 2-4, free or united, simple or bifid, ovules 1-2 per ceel, acile. Fruit usually a capsule aplitting into 2-3 segements, each 1-2 seeded, ocassionlly fleshy or leathery and indehiscent seeds often arillate

Genus Description

Annual or perennial herbs, or succulent cactus like shrubs or small tress with milky juice. Leaves alternate or opposite rarely in whoels of 3; stipules absent or present. Monoeciouus; flowers in solitary, clustred or umbellate cyathia, each cyathium composed of a cup a like involucre, its margin bearing 4-5 glands and 4-5 small petal like lobes, each cup cintaining a single central female flokwer surroinded bu several minute male flowers female flowers with a short pedicel ad 3 celled ovary bearing 3 free or united simple or bilobed styles perianth abscent. Male flowers with a single stamen, perianth absent. Fruit a 3 valved trigonous capsule.

Species description

Shrub 2-3m, branches stout. leaves alternate, lower green, ovote, 13-20*7-13cm, acute, base cuneate, margins entire or coarselly sinuate dentate, pubscent beneath, petioles red 2.5-6cm, upper leaves bright red, elliptic, 5-12*2-4cm, acuminate, ntire. Cyathia green, solitary on short leaf-opposed stalks 2-4mm, 7mm broad, with a yellow, ring like gland on one side; anther stalks red; ovary green with 3 deeply bufid styles connate at base. Capsulate 1cm diatmeter, on deflexed red stlk 1cm.