Euphorbia hierosolymitana Boiss.
E. thamnoides Boiss., E. bivonae sensu Täckh.
Eng.: Jerusalem spurge. Spa.: Lechetrezna, tabaiba. Fre.: Euphorbe. Ara.: Lezara.
Monoecious subshrub, 20-60(100) m in height, glabrous. Stems erect and highly branched, branches rigid and can be simple or intricately branched. Old stems are woody and with greyish bark, while younger stems are herbaceous, striated and green-yellowish. Leaves (0.5-1.5(2.8) × 0.4-0.8 cm) alternate, sessile or subsessile, oblong-obovate, attenuated at the base, apex rounded to obtuse, margin entire or undulate. Pleiochasium with 3-5 rays, often dichotomously branched. Pleiochasial and dichasial bracts smaller than the leaves (0.5-1.5 cm). Cyathium 2-3 mm, pedunculate, with transversely elliptical-crescent nectaries and with lobules broadly ovate, denticulate. Fruit a capsule (3.5-4 mm), ± globose covered in conical warts. Seeds (c. 3 × 2.5 mm), broadly ellipsoid, smooth, yellow and lustrous, carunculate.
Flowering:
January to April.
Fruiting:
March to June.
Habitat:
Rocky terrains, rocky wadis and calcareous terraces.
Distribution:
Eastern Mediterranean and westernmost region of the Middle East: from Georgia to the Sinai Peninsula, including Cyprus and reaching North Africa in the Egyptian coast.
Observations:
Some authors consider this species as a synonym of E. bivonae, arguing that the characters used to separate them are not different enough. A very similar species is E. erinacea Boiss. & Kostchy, easily differentiated by having spiny branchlets after anthesis. It is a Middle Eastern Mediterranean plant, with a disjunct distribution: on one side it grows in Lebanon, Syria, reaching the Golan Heights and on the other side it grows in Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula. It does not seem to reach the African region of Egypt.
Conservation status:
Relatively common and widely distributed species, especially the first species. They are not considered threatened. Currently, they have not been assessed at a global level on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In the Red List of vascular plants of Egypt (Flora Aegyptiaca Vol 1, 2000) it is listed as “Rare” and E. erinacea como Indeterminate (I).