Trees & Plants

Indian tree spurge

Eggamu murakka, Hundu kiruthona

Euphorbia tirucalli L.

Grown in homesteads The wood is used for rafters, toys and veneer. The plant is called “petroleum plant” since it produces a hydrocarbon substance similar to gasoline. The stem latex is used externally to get relief from rheumatism and to remove warts. Also used as a remedy for a

Details

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uses: The wood is used for rafters, toys and veneer. The plant is called “petroleum plant” since it produces a hydrocarbon substance similar to gasoline. The stem latex is used externally to get relief from rheumatism and to remove warts. Also used as a remedy for ailments such as spleen enlargement, biliousness, leucorrhoea, dyspepsia, colic and tumors.
family: Euphorbiaceae
synonym: Euphorbia geayi Costantin & Gallaud
description: Sacculent shrubs; branchlets terete, articulated. Leaves deciduous, 5-10 mm long, linear-oblong, base cuneate, apex obtuse to subacute. Cyathia clustered in the forks of the branchlets, shortly pedicelled, mostly female. Involucre campanulate; glands 3-5, transversely oval, peltate, lobes short, hairy. Male florets bracteolate, for bracteoles laciniate at tip. Styles short, recurved, 2-lobed. Capsule 5 mm, globose, & cocci compressed, velvety. Seeds ovoid, smooth.
native range: Tropical and subtropical Africa and the Arabian Peninsula
distribution: Paleotropics
english names: Indian tree spurge · Milk bush · Pencil bush
flowering fruiting: February – April
occurrence maldives: Grown in homesteads