Euphorbia peplus
| Euphorbia peplus | |
|---|---|
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Malpighiales |
| Family: | Euphorbiaceae |
| Genus: | Euphorbia |
| Species: | E. peplus |
| Binomial name | |
| Euphorbia peplus L. |
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Euphorbia peplus (petty spurge,[1][2] radium weed,[2] cancer weed,[2] or milkweed[2]) is a species of Euphorbia, native to most of Europe, northern Africa, and western Asia, where it typically grows in cultivated arable land, gardens, and other disturbed land.[1][3][4]
Outside of its native range it is very widely naturalised and often invasive, including in Australia, New Zealand, North America, and other countries in temperate and sub-tropical regions.[1]
[edit] Description
It is an annual plant growing to between 5–30 cm tall (most plants growing as weeds of cultivation tend towards the smaller end), with smooth hairless stems. The leaves are oval-acute, 1–3 cm long, with a smooth margin. It has green flowers in three-rayed umbels. The glands, typical of the Euphorbiacae, are kidney-shaped with long thin horns.[4]
[edit] Medicinal uses
The milky latex sap is toxic, and is traditionally used as a therapeutic agent for the skin.[5] One chemical constituent of Euphorbia peplus is ingenol mebutate. Commercialisation as a topical gel which contains ingenol mebutate has undergone preliminary trials showing that it may be useful in treating superficial basal cell carcinomas.[5]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c "Germplasm Resources Information Network". http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?16396.
- ^ a b c d Hazel Dempster, Bronwen Keighery, Greg Keighery, Rod Randall, Bob Dixon, Bill Betts, Margo O’Byrne, Diane Matthews. "Euphorbia terracina Workshop Proceedings 2000". http://www.environmentalweedsactionnetwork.org.au/images/pdf/EterracinaWorkshopText.pdf.
- ^ Flora Europaea: Euphorbia peplus
- ^ a b Blamey, M. & Grey-Wilson, C. (1989). Flora of Britain and Northern Europe. ISBN 0-340-40170-2
- ^ a b Siller G, Gebauer K, Welburn P, Katsamas J, Ogbourne SM (2009). "PEP005 (ingenol mebutate) gel, a novel agent for the treatment of actinic keratosis: results of a randomized, double-blind, vehicle-controlled, multicentre, phase IIa study". Australas J Dermatol 50 (1): 16–22. doi:10.1111/j.1440-0960.2008.00497.x. PMID 19178487.
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