Euphorbia candelabrum

Euphorbia candelabrum in the Serengeti
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Genus: Euphorbia
Species: E. candelabrum
Binomial name
Euphorbia candelabrum
Kotschy
Synonyms[1]
  • Euphorbia calycina N.E.Br.
  • Euphorbia confertiflora Volkens
  • Euphorbia murielii N.E.Br.
  • Euphorbia reinhardtii Volkens

Euphorbia candelabrum is a succulent species of plant in the Euphorbiaceae family, one of several plants commonly known as candelabra tree.[2] Its Latin name derives from its growth habit, often considered to resemble the branching of a candelabrum. E. candelabrum is endemic to the Horn of Africa and eastern Africa along the East African Rift system. It is known in Ethiopia by its Amharic name, qwolqwal, or its Oromo name, adaamii.[3]

Some authorities further divide this species into two varieties, Euphorbia candelabrum var. bilocularis and Euphorbia candelabrum var. candelabrum.

E. candelabrum was used in traditional Ethiopian medicine. Mixed with clarified honey, its sap was used as a purgative to cure syphilis, and when mixed with other medicinal plants as a salve to treat the symptoms of leprosy.[4] This plant currently has negligible commercial value, although Richard Pankhurst documents two different attempts near Keren in Eritrea to collect its gum before 1935, but neither attempt proved commercially viable.[5]

Notes

  1. ↑ "The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species". Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  2. ↑ Taxon: Euphorbia candelabrum Kotschy Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN)
  3. ↑ Workineh Kelbessa (2001). "Traditional Oromo Attitudes towards the Environment: An Argument for Environmentally Sound Development" (PDF). Social Science Research Report Series (19): 44. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
  4. ↑ Richard Pankhurst, An Introduction to the Medical History of Ethiopia (Trenton: Red Sea Press, 1990), pp. 76, 91
  5. ↑ Richard Pankhurst, Economic History of Ethiopia (Addis Ababa: Haile Selassie I University, 1968), p. 206