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Taxon:  Euphorbia lathyris L.



Summary
Genus:
Euphorbia
Family:
Euphorbiaceae
Subfamily:
Euphorbioideae
Tribe:
Euphorbieae
Subtribe:
Euphorbiinae
Nomen number:
70275
Place of publication:
Sp. pl. 1:457. 1753 "E. lathyrus" (corr. Syst. nat. ed. 10, 2:1048. 1759 & Sp. pl. ed. 2, 1:655. 1762)
Comment:
  • "lathyris" is derived from the Greek word for this plant
  • Linnaeus's citations of Bauhin, Fuchs, and Camerarius were also corrected from "Lathyrus" to "Lathyris" in Sp. pl. ed. 2
Verified:
10/26/1999 ARS Systematic Botanists.
Accessions:
2 (2  active, 1  available) in National Plant Germplasm System.  (Map it)
Other conspecific taxa
Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations
Heterotypic Synonym(s)
Euphorbia lathyrus L., orth. var.
No images


Reference(s)
  1. Aldén, B., S. Ryman & M. Hjertson. Våra kulturväxters namn - ursprung och användning. Formas, Stockholm (Handbook on Swedish cultivated and utility plants, their names and origin). 2009
  2. Allan, H. H. B. et al. Flora of New Zealand. 1961-
  3. Balakrishnan, N. P. & T. Chakrabarty. The family Euphorbiaceae in India; a synopsis of its profile, taxonomy and bibliography. 2007
  4. Cooper, M. R. & A. W. Johnson. Poisonous plants and fungi in Britain: animal and human poisoning. 1998
  5. Correa, J. E. & H. Y. Bernal. 1992. Especies vegetales promisorias de los paises del Convenio Andres Bello. 1989-1998 7:341-528.
  6. Davis, P. H., ed. Flora of Turkey and the east Aegean islands. 1965-1988
  7. Duke, J. A. et al. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs. 2002
  8. Encke, F. et al. Zander: Handwörterbuch der Pflanzennamen, 14. Auflage. 1993
  9. Erhardt, W. et al. Der große Zander: Enzyklopädie der Pflanzennamen. 2008
  10. Govaerts, R. et al. World checklist and bibliography of Euphorbiaceae. 2000
  11. Groth, D. 2005. pers. comm.
  12. Harden, G. J., ed. Flora of New South Wales. 1990-1993
  13. Hedberg, I. & S. Edwards. Flora of Ethiopia. 1989- (and Eritrea. 2000)
  14. Hnatiuk, R. J. Census of Australian vascular plants. Australian Flora and Fauna Series No. 11. 1990
  15. Holm, L. et al. A geographical atlas of world weeds. 1979
  16. Horvath, D. Euphorbia. Wild crop relatives: genomic and breeding resources, plantation and ornamental crops. 2011 7:125-132.
  17. Huxley, A., ed. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening. 1992
  18. Jahandiez, E. & R. Maire. Catalogue des plantes du Maroc. 1931-1941
  19. Jessop, J. P. & H. R. Toelken, eds. Flora of South Australia, ed. 4. 1986
  20. Keys, J. D. Chinese herbs: their botany, chemistry, and pharmacodynamics. 1976
  21. Kingsbury, J. M. Poisonous plants of the United States and Canada. 1964
  22. Lazarides, M. & B. Hince. CSIRO Handbook of Economic Plants of Australia. 1993
  23. Markle, G. M. et al., eds. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2. 1998
  24. Mun-Chan, B. et al. 1986. A checklist of the Korean cultivated plants. Kulturpflanze 34:98.
  25. Munro, D. B. Canadian poisonous plants information system (on-line resource).
  26. National Institute for the Control of Pharmaceutical & Biological Products. Colour atlas of Chinese traditional drugs, Vol 1. 1987
  27. Nicolson, D. H. 1979. pers. comm. to E. E. Terrell
  28. Oudejans, R. C. H. M. World catalogue of species names published in the tribe Euphorbieae (Euphorbiaceae) with their geographical distribution. 1990
  29. Parsons, W. T. & E. G. Cuthbertson. Noxious weeds of Australia. 1992
  30. Rehm, S. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants. 1994
  31. Rizk, A. M. 1987. The chemical constituents and economic plants of the Euphorbiaceae. Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 94:316.
  32. Stanley, T. D. & E. M. Ross. Flora of south-eastern Queensland. 1983-1989
  33. Terrell, E. E. et al. Agric. Handb. no. 505. 1986
  34. Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1968. Flora europaea. 1964-1980 2:221.
  35. Walters, S. M. et al., eds. European garden flora. 1986-
  36. Wiersema, J. H. & B. León. World economic plants: a standard reference (on-line edition) [medicinal plants only].
  37. Willis, J. H. A handbook to plants in Victoria. 1970-1972
  38. Yen, Kun-Ying. Illustrated Chinese materia medica: crude drugs. 1980
Common names
English
caper spurge –
gopherplant –
moleplant –
French
euphorbe épurge –
German
kreuzblättrige Wolfsmilch –
Portuguese
catapúcia-menor –
Spanish
lechetrezna –
tártago –
Swedish
korstörel –
Transcribed Korean
sogsuja –
Distribution
order_codeStatusContinentSubcontinentCountryStateNote
1NativeAsia-TemperateChinaChina  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeGreece  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeItaly  
1NativeEuropeSouthwestern EuropeFranceCorsica 
4Naturalized     
6Other     
Native
Asia-Temperate
  • CHINA: China
Europe
  • SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE: Greece, Italy
  • SOUTHWESTERN EUROPE: France [Corsica]
Naturalized ()
Other ()
Economic Uses
UsageTypeNoteReference
Fuelspotential as petroleum substitute/alcohol Rizk, A. M. 1987. The chemical constituents and economic plants of the Euphorbiaceae. Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 94:316.
Materialslipids Markle, G. M. et al., eds. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2. 1998
Medicinesfolklore Duke, J. A. et al. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs. 2002
Vertebrate poisonsmammals Cooper, M. R. & A. W. Johnson. Poisonous plants and fungi in Britain: animal and human poisoning. 1998
Weedpotential seed contaminant Holm, L. et al. A geographical atlas of world weeds. 1979
Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2025. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://ausgenebank.agriculture.vic.gov.au/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=70275. Accessed 9 January 2025.

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