Family: Euphorbiaceae
Species: Euphorbia characias L.
Common name: Euphorbia bushy - English: Mediterranean spurge- Deutsch: Palisaden-Wolfsmilch, Schwarzes Auge
Etymology
The genus name refers to the Greek physician Euphorbos, while the species name charakías comes from the Greek and means “pole,” alluding to the stem’s sturdiness.
Description
A succulent plant with a large rhizome and a woody stem, which branches out into numerous green shoots.
The leaves are thin, lanceolate, and lack a petiole; they are arranged spirally on the stem. Their upper surface is bluish-green, the underside is paler, and they have a prominent lighter central vein. The “flower” of a Euphorbia is an inflorescence known as a cyathium, formed by a cup-shaped structure bearing four or five elliptical, typically dark red glands around its rim, containing tiny flowers. The female flowers are yellow, while the male flowers consist solely of stamens. They are often surrounded by bracts, petal-like in appearance, which are brightly coloured. The fruit is a capsule with three seeds.
Habitat
A plant native to the Mediterranean region and the Portuguese coast.
Properties and Uses
The seeds are toxic and were once used as purgatives. E. characias is also cultivated for ornamental purposes in Mediterranean gardens.
Notes and Curiosities
Handle Euphorbia plants with gloves because their latex is often irritating and poisonous. This species uses an intriguing method of propagation. Besides being able to eject its seeds over a distance of more than 3 metres, it has formed a mutualistic relationship with some ant species. After transporting the seeds to their nest, the ants carry part of them farther away—often to spots where the seeds can germinate—thus enabling the plants to grow distant from the mother plant.
In the Heller rock garden, rebuilt by Ruska to symbolise the Three Peaks of Lavaredo, there used to be a large variety of strictly Alpine plants such as Leontopodium nivale (edelweiss). Today, due to climate change, these have been replaced mainly by typically Mediterranean species, including Euphorbia bushy. Here, the plant often assumes a perfectly spherical shape, and its bright, acid-green flowers at the tips of its branches make it a striking focal point. It does not require pruning, only the removal of dry branches at the base, carried out at the end of winter.