Euphorbia platyacantha Drake

• Region

  Africa

• Country

  Tanzania

• Locality

  T6, Kilosa, 17 miles SE of Mbuyuni (Ruaha) at Morogoro-Iringa road

• Coordinates

  -7.58, 36.75

• Location Notes

  [Africa]

• Distribution

  Map all specimens of this taxon

372: Euphorbia dumeticola Bally & Carter
Habitat: Dense stand of this species, together with some
few Adansonia digitata, Commiphora sp and other thorn-
bushes. Slopes betweeen the road and the river. Soil light
brown, sandy and with scattered stones of varying size.
Description: The largest tree in the stand 6 m tall.
Usually with a single trunk, but sometimes with up to
5 trunks, maybe because the trunk has been cut and side-
branches have developed to new trunks. Trunk up to 15 cm
in diam. Bark grey, smooth except for lenticels, which
give the trunk a warty apperance. The trunk with 4 wings
with spines. These wings 1 cm high. At the top of the
trunk a crown which may vary in shape from flat ovate
(wider than high) to high ovate.
Branches falling off on lower parts of the trunk, leafless,
exept new shoots which have small scaly leaves on the
margin of the wings. Branches green on the apical 2/3 and
grey on the basal 1/3. Branches succulent where they are
green and woody where they are grey. Branches with 4 wings
(one branch seen with 5 wings, but apart form this 4 wings
seems to be very constant). On the margin of the wings
spines on separate or continous spineshields. Spines
slender, of varying length, up to 1 cm long. Spine-pairs
1 cm apart.	' ,
Flowers with a short stalk, sitting in a cyme, with one
flower in the middle and two with a sligthly longer stalk
in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the branch. The
lateral flowers situated exacly between 2 spines, one
from each spine pair in front of, and behind, the flowe-
ring eye.
Capsules small, very short stalked,3-lobed,^with rounded
lobes which fruits ripen inside the flower^tiien bursts
and the capsule emerges. Often 1 or 2 of the loci in the
capsules are sterile.
Seedlings with 4 wings and erect growth to ^r>efore they
branch.
Branches up to 2 m long., leaving the trunk at a right
angle and then curving upwards. Branches 4 cm in diam on
basal parts and 2 cm in diam on apical parts. Branches
with sidebranches, and sidebranches branching.
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BOTANISK INSTITUT • AARHUS UN1VERSITET
(Herbarium Jutlandicum [AAU], Aarhus, Denmark)
;uphorbiaceae
Flora of Tanzania
Collected 1974 by Henrik Balslev
uphorbia p^atyacantr
iG JT
NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN
04048318
3o.11.1974
Loc * T 6, Kilosa, ca 7-35 S/
36-45 E., 17 miles SB of Mbuyuni
(Ruaha) at Morogoro-Irmga roaa.
04048318