Euphorbus (physician)
Euphorbus (Ancient Greek: Εὔφορβος Euphorbos) was the Greek physician of Juba II (r. 30–25 BC). He wrote that a succulent plant, similar to the Euphorbia, was a powerful laxative.[1] In 12 BC, Juba named this plant after his physician Euphorbus in response to Augustus dedicating a statue to Antonius Musa, Augustus's own personal physician and Euphorbus' brother.[1]
Botanist and taxonomist Carl Linnaeus assigned the name Euphorbia to the entire genus in the physician's honor.[2]
References
- ^ a b Flowering Plants of the Santa Monica Mountains, p. 107, 1985, CNPS
- ^ Carl Linnaeus, Species Plantarum (1753): p. 450