FoI
Horned Spurge
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Horned Spurge
ative Photo: Alok Mahendroo
Common name: Horned Spurge
Botanical name: Euphorbia cornigera    Family: Euphorbiaceae (Castor family)
Synonyms: Euphorbia pilosa var. cornigera

Horned spurge is a clump-forming perennial with upright leafy stems upto 1 m tall, although commonly 40-70 cm tall. Stem-leaves are alternate, stalkless, oblong-lanceshaped or oblong-oblanceolate, sometimes narrowly so, 3-7 x 0.5-2 cm, pointed, blunt or rounded at the tip, flat, wedge-shaped or rounded at the base, margins minutely toothed, at least towards the tip, or nearly entire. Pseudumbels are 5-9-rayed, the rays trifid then bind. Several axillary rays or branches developed below the pseudumbels; pseudumbel leaves 5-9, whorled, ovate to lanceolate and varying considerably in size; ray-leaves whorled (in 3’s) or opposite, deltoid, ovate, rhombic or suborbicular, 0.5-2 x0.5-2 cm, subacute to rounded at the apex, rounded-cuneate to truncate at the base, green or yellowish. Cyathia sessile. Glands transversely elliptic, rounded on the outer edge, yellow. Fruit is trilobate-round, 5 x 6 mm, covered with narrowly conical processes 0.5-1 mm long, glabrous or sparingly pubescent and glabrescent. Flowering: April-September.

Identification credit: Gurcharan Singh
Photographed in Kalatope-Khajjiar Wildlife Sanctuary, Chamba, Himachal Pradesh.
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