Family:
Euphorbiaceae Juss.
Genus:
Euphorbia L.

Euphorbia magnicapsula S.Carter

This species is accepted, and its native range is South Sudan to E. Tropical Africa.

[FTEA]

Euphorbiaceae, A. R.-Smith. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1987

Morphology General Habit
Tree to 12 m. high, with a trunk to 45 cm. in diameter, rarely branched, and grey-brown roughened fissured bark irregularly marked with pit-scars resulting from fallen branches; seedlings 4–5-angled; branches spreading upwards, to 2.5 m. long, rebranching to form a ± compact rounded or flattened crown; terminal branches fleshy, 3–5-angled, to 15 cm. wide, prominendy and stoudy winged, deeply constricted to form subcircular or ovate segments to 20 cm. long, or shallowly constricted into oblong segments with undulate margins in young plants; angles sinuately toothed, with teeth 1–3 cm. apart, ± regularly spaced on older plants.
Morphology General Spines
Spine-shields forming a continuous horny margin 3–8 mm. wide; spines stout 5–15(–25) mm. long; prickles vestigial; a pair of secondary spines to 2.5 mm. long often flanking the flowering eye.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves deltoid, ± 2 × 3 mm.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Cymes 1–3 in a horizontal row, or 4–5 crowded together, 1-forked in a vertical plane, peduncles and cyme-branches very stout, 5–8 × 5–8 mm.; bracts rounded, ± 5 × 9 mm.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Cyathia
Cyathia 4.5–6 × 10–12 mm., with cup-shaped involucres; glands transversely oblong, 2.5–3 × 5–6 mm., just touching, yellow; lobes subquadrate, ± 2 × 2.5 mm., conspicuously toothed.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Male flowers many:bracteoles deeply laciniate; stamens 6–7 mm. long. Female flower:perianth conspicuous, 3-lobed, with lobes to 3 mm. long; styles 4.5–7 mm. long, joined at the base for ± 1/3 their length, apices thickened, rugulose, ± bifid.
sex Male
Male flowers many:bracteoles deeply laciniate; stamens 6–7 mm. long.
sex Female
Female flower:perianth conspicuous, 3-lobed, with lobes to 3 mm. long; styles 4.5–7 mm. long, joined at the base for ± 1/3 their length, apices thickened, rugulose, ± bifid.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Capsule exserted on a stout pedicel 5–8 mm. long, 3-lobed with truncate base and slightly pointed apex, 12 × 22–25 mm., ± fleshy and becoming bright red.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds subglobose, slightly compressed laterally, ± 4.8 × 4.5 mm., buff with dark speckles and streaks, smooth.

Native to:

Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda

Euphorbia magnicapsula S.Carter appears in other Kew resources:

First published in Kew Bull. 42: 678 (1987)

Accepted by

  • Govaerts, R., Frodin, D.G. & Radcliffe-Smith, A. (2000). World Checklist and Bibliography of Euphorbiaceae (and Pandaceae) 1-4: 1-1622. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Literature

Kew Backbone Distributions

  • Darbyshire, I., Kordofani, M., Farag, I., Candiga, R. & Pickering, H. (eds.) (2015). The Plants of Sudan and South Sudan: 1-400. Kew publishing, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Flora of Tropical East Africa

  • S. Carter in Kew Bulletin 42: 678 (1987).

  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

    Flora of Tropical East Africa
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0