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Euphorbia antiquorum
Euphorbia antiquorum L., Euphorbiaceae, occurs throughout the hotter parts of India, up to 2,000 ft., on the hills.
The plant is an easily recognisable small, leaf-less tree, the stems are succulent and prominently ridged, with prickles on the ridges (see the photograph), the main trunk often exceeding a girth of eight inches. The general appearance of the species is ‘cactoid’ and for this reason this is confused with the cacti. A prick on the stem releases milky latex, which is absent in the cacti. See Euphorbia tirucalli, which is a similar species.
The plant is a purgative, digestive and pungent.
The decoction of the stem is used in gout.
The juice of the plant is a purgative, irritant, used in rheumatism, toothache, nervine diseases, dropsy, palsy, deafness, to kill maggots in wounds, to clear warts and in contagious skin afflictions.
The latex is a fish poison.
Euphorbin is the major constituent of the latex. Saline extracts of the stems are antibiotic.