Indian Spurgetree

Euphorbia neriifolia is also cultivated in the greenhouses of C and N China. The stems and leaves are used medicinally.

Trees or shrubs, 3-5(-8) m tall, glabrous except for cyathia. Stems 6-15 cm thick, green, with 5 spiral ranks of tubercles, ascending, branching from upper parts. Leaves alternate, apically clustered, persistent, succulent; spine shields small, stipules pricklelike, 2-3 mm; petiole short, 2-4 mm; leaf blade obovate or obovate-oblong to spoon-shaped, 4.5-12 × 1.3-3.8 cm, fleshy, base attenuate, margin entire, apex obtuse, apiculate; veins inconspicuous. Cyathia in subterminal cymes, peduncle ca. 3 mm; cyathophylls membranous, caducous; involucre campanulate, ca. 4 × 5-6 mm, lobes 5, rounded; glands 5, succulent, thick and entire. Male flowers many, bracts linear. Female flowers rarely developed. Capsule and seeds not seen. Fl. Jun-Sep.

Cultivated. Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Yunnan [native to India; widely cultivated in tropical Asia].

Euphorbia neriifolia is a species of spurge, which was originally described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753.