Description

Gulf Sandmat is an annual herb with milky sap. Stems are velvet-hairy, prostrate, often red. Oppositely arranged simple leaves are broadly ovate, with toothed margin. Flowers are minute, clustered into cup-like cyathia borne in the leaf axils. Cyathial appendages are petal-like, 4, white to pink, each with a minute gland at the base. Capsules are velvet hairy, emerging laterally through the cyathium wall.

Characteristics:

Gulf Sandmat(Euphorbia thymifolia) is a widespread tropical and subtropical weed. It is not certain where the species is native, but most likely it originated in the New World and then became widespread in the rest of the tropics. Euphorbia thymifolia is present in the flora area in southern Florida and coastal Louisiana, where it is likely adventive. Euphorbia thymifolia is generally similar to E. maculata but is characterized by its short pistillate pedicels and non-exserted capsules that remain largely enclosed by the involucre and by its unequal involucral gland appendages. essential oil from the leaves has a pungent odour and irritating taste, and contains cymol, carvacrol, limonene, sesquiterpenes and salicylic acid. The essential oil is put into medicinal soaps for treatment of erysipelas, sprays to keep off flies and mosquitoes, and a vermifuge for dogs. Bloom Color: White , Red , Pink Bloom Time: Jul , Aug , Sep

Medicinal Uses:

Gulf Sandmat(Euphorbia thymifolia) is widely used in Africa in decoction or infusion against dysentery, enteritis, diarrhoea and venereal diseases. The dried leaves and seeds are slightly aromatic and are used as a stimulant, astringent, anthelmintic and laxative. A decoction of fresh aerial parts is applied externally to treat dermatitis, eczema and skin inflammations. An infusion of the leafy stems is taken as a bitter diuretic. Women with heavy menstruation drink the latex as a tonic. Fresh crushed plants are applied as a plaster for healing sprains. The latex is applied to warts. In Sierra Leone the leaves are pulped with water and applied to the head to treat headache. The leaves are used in a decoction to treat cystitis and kidney ailments. In Côte d’Ivoire and Congo a decoction of the whole plant is drunk to treat lung problems. In Congo ground fresh leaves are rubbed in to treat intercostal pain. A maceration of the dried leaves is drunk for facilitating childbirth; it is claimed to stimulate contractions of the uterus.