Euphorbian.
/juːˈfɔːbɪə/ Botany.
The Latin and botanical name of the Spurge genus (family Euphorbiaceæ), comprising many species, which vary from a herbaceous plant in temperate regions, to a tree-like growth in warm climates. They are marked by two almost constant characteristics, the secretion of a viscid milky juice, and the peculiar inflorescence of having a number of stamens round a stalked and three-celled ovary. Some of the species, as E. punicea, are cultivated for the beauty of their involucre, the bracts of which are a brilliant scarlet, with the appearance of a real flower. Cf. spurge n.1
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the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Euphorbiaceae (spurges and allies) > [noun]
catapucec1386
Euphorbiaa1398
spurgea1400
tithymala1400
faitour's grassc1440
cat's-grassc1450
nettlewort1523
essell1527
lint-spurge1548
sea wartwort1548
spurge thyme1548
line-spurge1562
myrtle spurge1562
sun spurge1562
wolf's-milk1575
cypress tithymal1578
devil's milk1578
mercury1578
sea-spurge1597
sun tithymal1597
welcome to our house1597
wood-spurge1597
Euphorbium1606
milk-reed1611
milkwort1640
sun-turning spurge1640
spurge-wort1647
caper-bush1673
Portland spurge1715
milkweed1736
Medusa's head1760
little-good1808
welcome-home-husband1828
three-seeded mercury1846
cat's-milk1861
turnsole1863–79
mole-tree1864
snow-on-the-mountain1873
seven sisters1879
caper-plant1882
asthma herb1887
mountain snow1889
crown of thorns1890
olifants melkbos1898
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xv. xciii. 781 Þere [sc. in Mauritania] groweþ an herbe þat hat euforbia..þe white iuys þerof is wondirliche ypreysede in clernesse of siȝt.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. 222 Iuba king of Mauritania, found out the herb Euphorbia, which he so called after the name of his own Physitian Euphorbus.
1785 T. Martyn tr. J.-J. Rousseau Lett. Elements Bot. xx. 287 Euphorbia has a corol of four, and sometimes of five petals.
1813 H. Davy Elements Agric. Chem. iii. 129 Different species of Euphorbia emit a milky juice.
1834 T. Pringle Afr. Sketches vi. 209 The lofty candelabra-shaped euphorbias towering above the copses of evergreens.
1878 H. M. Stanley Through Dark Continent I. vi. 139 The villages..are surrounded by hedges of euphorbias, milk-weed.
Derivatives
ˌeuphorbiˈaceous adj. [+ -aceous suffix] of the family Euphorbiaceæ.
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the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Euphorbiaceae (spurges and allies) > [adjective]
euphorbiaceous1852
1852 T. Ross tr. A. von Humboldt Personal Narr. Trav. Amer. II. xvi. 52 (note) The juice of a euphorbiaceous plant (Sapium aucuparium)..is so glutinous that it is used to catch parrots.
1863 H. W. Bates Naturalist on River Amazons I. iv. 143 The tree which yields this valuable sap [sc. India-rubber] is the Siphonia elastica, a member of the Euphorbiaceous order.
euˈphorbial adj. [+ -al suffix1] = euphorbiaceous adj.
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1864 Webster's Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang. (citing Ogilvie) Euphorbial; [and in mod. Dicts.]
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1891; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.a1398