Botanical
The English name for the Euphorbiaceae is the spurge family, the Dutch name is the "Wolfsmelkachtigen". The spurge family has
300 genera and 5000 species. The plants contain a milky latex, which contains caoutchouc (rubber), triterpenes, triterpen esters.
lanosterol, cycloartenol, 24-methylene-cycloartenol, decan acid, dodecan acid, DOPA, polyhydroxy-diterpenes (cancer promotors).
forbol, ingenol.
Some members look very much like cacti: Euphorbium grandicornis, Euphorbium obesa, Euphorbium pseudocactus. These plants can
also carry thorns, just as the Euphorbium milii.
The plants are mostly herbs, shrubs and trees, unisexual with highly reduced flowers. The flowers are often small, sometimes
accentuated by pseudanthal states.
Phytochemistry
The plants of the family of the Euphorbiaceae have toxic effects on the skin (vesicular eruptions) and on the gastro-intestinal tract (diarrhoea, cholera). Plants like Croton tiglium have a promotor-action: they reinforce the carcinogenic effect of carcinogenic substances. The promotor-action is caused by phorbol- and ingenol-esters.
The milky juice contains caoutchouc (the main amount of the latex of the rubbertree).