Alternative names: Not Applicable

Description:
Herbs, shrubs or trees, often with latex, monoecious or dioecious; leaves mostly alternate but often opposite rarely whorled, mostly simple rarely compound, frequently stipulate.

Flowers unisexual, mostly small, usually actinomorphic, often apetalous or without sepals; male flowers with 1 to many stamens, with free or connate filaments, often with an intrastaminal disc or disc-lobes or glands alternating with the outer stamens; anthers usually 2-celled, rarely 4-celled, dehiscing lengthwise or opening by terminal pores; female flowers usually with a 3-celled superior ovary and 3 styles, with 1 or 2 anatropous pendulous ovules in each cell; disc usually present under the ovary, annular, pulvinate or cyathiform.

Fruit usually a capsule separating from a persistent central column into 3 fruitlets (sometimes called cocci), rarely 1-celled and 1-seeded by abortion, or a drupe; seed with a more or less leathery coat, usually carunculate terminally, rhaphe ventral; embryo in the axis of the albumen, mostly straight; radicle turned toward the hilum; endosperm fleshy, oily.

Distribution:  About 7,500 species with 290 genera, mainly in the tropics of America and Africa, in both humid and arid regions, a few genera also in temperate regions. About 280 species in about 54 genera in Australia.

Biology: No text

Key to Genera:

1. Male and female flowers arranged in heads resembling single flowers, surrounded by a cup-shaped usually glandular involucre (cyathium)
2. Ovary without a perianth within the cyathium; herbs, undershrubs or shrubs	EUPHORBIA 8.
2. Ovary surrounded by a 5- or 6-lobed perianth within the cyathium; shrubs with opposite virgate branches, leafless at the time of flowering	CALYCOPEPLUS 5.
1. Male and female flowers distinct, not arranged in heads or resembling single flowers
3. Leaves opposite
4. Capsule 1-celled and 1-seeded by abortion; petals absent
5. Leaves 2-6 mm long; stamens 3, free; style arms entire; ovary, with 2 ovules per cell	PSEUDANTHUS 13.
5. Leaves 5-30 mm long; stamens numerous, with united filaments; style arms 2-lobed or 2-fid; ovary with 1 ovule per cell	BERTYA 3.
4. Capsule 2- or more-celled; petals absent or present
6. Shrubs; dioecious; petals absent; stamens numerous, with united filaments; style arms long; capsule 8-10mm across	ADRIANA 1.
6. Herbs or undershrubs; monoecious; petals 5; stamens 5, free; style arms short; capsule 1-3 mm across	PORANTHERA 12.
3. Leaves alternate, single or in threes at each node or absent
7. Leaves in threes at each node; monoecious; flowers solitary	MICRANTHEUM 9.
7. Leaves single at each node or absent
8. Stamens 3-10; petals present or absent; seed acarunculate except in Eremocarpus and Pseudanthus
9. Ovules 2 per cell; monoecious or dioecious
10. Capsule 1-celled and 1-seeded by abortion; stamens 3, free; seed carunculate	PSEUDANTHUS 13.
10. Capsule 3-celled and 3- or 6-seeded; stamens 3, 5 or 6; seed acarunculate
11. Petals 5 or 3; stamens 5, rarely 3, free; anthers 4-celled and opening by terminal pores; flowers in short head-like racemes; monoecious	PORANTHERA 12.
11. Petals absent; stamens 3, free or united by the filaments; anthers 2-celled, dehiscing longitudinally; flowers axillary; monoecious or dioecious
12. Flowers with 6 hypogynous glands or a disc; testa smooth or shallowly ornamented; filaments free or united	PHYLLANTHUS 11.
12. Flowers without hypogynous glands or a disc; seed deeply wrinkled or rugose; filaments united all the way into a column	SAUROPUS 15.
9. Ovules 1 per cell; monoecious
13. Plant stellate-pubescent; petals absent; ovary l-celled; seed carunculate	EREMOCARPUS 7.
13. Plant glabrous; ovary 3-celled; seed acarunculate
14. Stiff erect shrubs with angular usually leafless branches; flowers in axillary clusters; petals absent; style branches entire; capsule with 6 erect appendages	AMPEREA 2.
14. Ascending subshrubs with distinct peltate leaves; flowers in terminal heads; petals present; style branches fringed; capsule without appendages	MONOTAXIS 10.
8. Stamens numerous; petals absent; seed carunculate
15. Stamens free on the low rounded receptacle; stigma sessile, 3-lobed; capsule almost globular	BEYERIA 4.
15. Stamens united by filaments into a central column
16. Leaves 20-60cm long; palmately 7-9-lobed; capsule 15-25 mm long, soft-spiny; monoecious	RICINUS 14.
16. Leaves less than 10 cm long, never palmately lobed; capsule 6-10 mm long, smooth; dioecious
17. Leaves 2-9 cm long, coarsely toothed or lobed; flowers in terminal spikes; dioecious	ADRIANA 1.
17. Leaves 0.5-3 cm long, entire; flowers solitary in axils; monoecious	BERTYA 3.

Author: Prepared by J. Z. Weber