| Euphorbia resinifera | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Malpighiales |
| Family: | Euphorbiaceae |
| Genus: | Euphorbia |
| Species: | E. resinifera |
| Binomial name | |
| Euphorbia resinifera A.Berger. |
|
Euphorbia resinifera (Resin spurge) is a species of spurge native to Morocco, where it occurs on the slopes of the Atlas Mountains.[1]
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It is a shrub growing to 60 cm tall, forming multi-stemmed cushion-shaped clumps up to 2 m wide. The stems are erect, succulent, superficially like a cactus, four-angled, with short but sharp pairs of 6 mm spines on the angles, spaced about 1 cm apart up the stem.[1]
It is similar to its relative Euphorbia echinus, which occurs on the Moroccan coast and the Canary Islands.
Euphorbia resinifera contains a high concentration of the toxin resiniferatoxin which is being used as a starting point in the development a novel class of analgesics.[2] Recent research has shown that this toxin exhibits its effects by interacting with TRPV1, a known pain sensing cation channel that also responds to capsaicin, the primary vanilloid compound found in hot peppers.