Euphorbia grantii

Euphorbia grantii
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Genus: Euphorbia
Species: E. grantii
Binomial name
Euphorbia grantii
Oliv.
Synonyms

Synadenium grantii Hook.f.

Euphorbia grantii is a species of succulent plant in the Euphorbiaceae family. The specific epithet is in honour of explorer James Augustus Grant.[1] It was originally described by Daniel Oliver in 1875.[2] The plant has the common name of African milk bush. In 1952 during the Mau Mau Uprising, the poisonous latex of the plant was used to kill cattle in incidents of biological warfare.[3] Synadenium grantii (S. compactum) is often grown as a hedge plant and as a traditional grave marker among the peoples of central Kenya (Agikuyu, Akamba, etc.).[4]

References

  1. Oliver, Daniel. 1875. Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, 29(3): 144.
  2. International Organization for Plant Information (IOPI). "Plant Name Search Results" (HTML). International Plant Names Index. Retrieved 12 July 2010.
  3. Bernard Verdourt, E.C. Trump and M.E. Church (1969). Common poisonous plants of East Africa. London: Collins. p. 254.
  4. (Book) Trees of Kenya, by Tim C. Noad and Ann Birnie, p.109, Self-Published in Nairobi, Kenya 1989

External links


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