Kingdom Plantae Family Euphorbiaceae Scientific name Euphorbia resinifera Rank Species | Order Malpighiales Genus Euphorbia Higher classification Spurges | |
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Similar Spurges, Euphorbiaceae, Euphorbia canariensis, Euphorbieae, Euphorbia grandicornis | ||
Euphorbia resinifera
Euphorbia resinifera (Resin spurge) is a species of spurge native to Morocco, where it occurs on the slopes of the Atlas Mountains.
Contents
- Euphorbia resinifera
- Octonary ingredients of euphorbia resinifera formulations pankaj oudhia s medicinal plant database
- Growth
- Distribution
- Chemical constituents
- References
Octonary ingredients of euphorbia resinifera formulations pankaj oudhia s medicinal plant database
Growth
It is a shrub growing to 61 centimetres (24 in) tall, forming multi-stemmed cushion-shaped clumps up to 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) wide. The stems are erect, succulent, superficially like a cactus, four-angled, with short but sharp pairs of 6-millimetre (0.24 in) spines on the angles, spaced about 1-centimetre (0.39 in) apart up the stem.
Distribution
It is similar to its relative Euphorbia echinus, which occurs on the Moroccan coast and the Canary Islands.
Chemical constituents
Euphorbia resinifera contains a high concentration of the toxin resiniferatoxin which is being used as a starting point in the development of a novel class of analgesics. Recent research has shown that this toxin exhibits its effects by interacting with TRPV1, a known pain sensing cation channel that also responds to capsaicin, the primary vanilloid compound found in hot peppers.
