Euphorbiaceae - Euphorbia family

Dioecious or monoecious herbs, shrubs or trees, sometimes succulent, spiny or unarmed, sometimes with milky latex. Hairs 0, simple, stellate or stinging. Stipules present or 0. Leaves alternate, rarely opposite or in whorls, usually simple, less often lobed or compound. Glands sometimes present near the apex of the petiole and base of lamina. Inflorescences various, sometimes in cyathia. Flowers unisexual, usually actinomorphic and very small. Calyx usually of 3-6 lobes or free sepals. Corolla with 3-6 free or ± united petals or 0. Disk present or 0. Stamens 3-many. Ovary superior, 1-4(-20)-locular, most commonly 3-locular. Styles (1-)3(-20). Fruit usually splitting into three 2-valved cocci, less often indehiscent. Seeds 1-2 per loculus, with or without a caruncle.

Comment: According to the most recent taxonomic research by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG-III), the traditional concepts of Euphorbiaceae were no longer found satisfactory. Many genera, formerly included in this family, have therefore now been placed in separate families. As this new concept has become widely accepted, we have adjusted accordingly, resulting in the following changes:

The genera formerly making up the subfamily Phyllanthoideae are now placed in Phyllanthaceae, with the exception of
Drypetes, which has been placed in the small family Putranjivaceae;
The genus Clutia has been placed in the small family Peraceae.

Worldwide: 313 genera and 8,100 species, cosmopolitan.

Zimbabwe: 18 cultivated genera and 50 cultivated taxa.