Description

Indian Spurge Tree also known as Oleander Spurge(scientific name: Euphorbia nerifolia) is a two- to four-meter-tall shrub that grows in rocky crevices, mainly in the hills of southern India. Its fleshy stalks are rounded and gray, resembling a cactus. The plant is believed to have originated in the Deccan Plateau in southern India and now grows all over the world. Flowers in clusters, the leaves appearing only during the rainy season. In a bunch there will be one female flower and many male flowers. Indian Spurge Tree is a prickly, large, branched, erect, succulent leafless shrub that occurs in dry, rocky and hilly areas of North, Central and South India. It is a tree or shrub, 3-5 m tall, hairless except for cyathia. Stems are 6-15 cm thick, green, with 5 spiral ranks of tubercles, ascending, branching from upper parts. Leaves are alternate, apically clustered, persistent, fleshy; spine shields small, stipules pricklelike, 2-3 mm; leaf-stalk short, 2-4 mm; leaf blade obovate or obovate-oblong to spoon-shaped, 4.5-12 x 1.3-3.8 cm, fleshy, base narrowed, margin entire, tip blunt, apiculate; veins inprominent. Cyathia in subat branch-ends cymes, flower-cluster-stalk about 3 mm; cyathophylls membranous, falling off; involucre bell-shaped, about 4 x 5-6 mm, lobes 5, rounded; glands 5, fleshy, thick and entire. Male flowers many, bracts linear. Female flowers rarely developed. Indian Spurge Tree is found in Peninsular India.

Characteristics:

Indian Spurge Tree is glabrous erect branched succulent, xerophytic tree or shrub up to 20 ft or 1.8–4.5 m high with jointed cylindrical or obscurely 5-angled branches

Fruits and Flowers: Fruits are looking like capsule. Style 3-fid, stigmas slightly dilated and minutely toothed. The flowers are yellowish green in color. Flowers and fruits occur during December to May months.

Leaves: The fresh young leaves are simple, dark green in colour having leathery texture. The surface is glabrous with reticulate venation. The average leaf size is (8–14 ± 2) cm (length) and (4–8 ± 2) cm (breadth) and (1.3 ± 0.2) mm (thickness) with pointed and acute tip. Peri-clinical divisions in the third and fourth layers of peripheral meristem initiate the leaf.

Branches: The saccular branches have a pair of strong stipular spines on tubercles of the branchlet which is confluent in 5 vertical spinal lines or ribs. Branches are more and less obtusely 5-gonous in segment. Bunches of succulent thick leaves occur on the branchlets. Central meristem is prominent throughout plasto-chronic phases. There is close histogenic relationship between central and peripheral meristem.

Medicinal Uses:

The latex or milky juice is used for treating ear pain, skin diseases, warts, scabies etc. One of the very extensive medicinal use of this plant is for pain in ear and inflammation of the ear, for which juice extracted from the heated leaves is used as ear drop. The components isolated from the stain have the ability to dry surgical wounds and increase the strength of the wound.