Euphorbia grandicornis explained

Euphorbia grandicornis, the cow's horn plant, is a succulent plant of the Euphorbiaceae or spurge family. It is native to the KwaZulu-Natal province and the Northern Provinces of South Africa and to Mozambique and Eswatini.^[1]

The specific epithet "grandicornis" means "with large horns," and refers to the pairs of spines, which look like the horns of a bull.

Description

Euphorbia grandicornis is a shrub with succulent, spiny stems that reaches a size of 0.5–2 m in height. Small leaves are formed between the spines but later drop off; the stems do the bulk of the photosynthesis. It is much branched from the base, with thorns, the branches 3-angled, erect or ascending, very deeply constricted in segments, subsagittate-ovate or reniform-sagittate, 5–13 cm long and 5 – 15 cm in diameter.^{[2] [3] [4]}

The fruit is showy and pops open when ripe.

It is found in dense dry mixed forest, on granite slopes, and on rocks, at elevations of 40 to 700 meters.^[5]

Subspecies

Two subspecies are accepted:

• Euphorbia grandicornis subsp. grandicornis – Mozambique, Eswatini, Northern Provinces, and KwaZulu-Natal
• Euphorbia grandicornis subsp. sejuncta – north-central Mozambique

Uses

It is grown as a houseplant in temperate regions.^[6]

Chemical constituents of E. grandicornis have been studied for their use in cancer treatment.^[7]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Roskov Y. . Kunze T. . Orrell T. . Abucay L. . Paglinawan L. . Culham A. . Bailly N. . Kirk P. . Bourgoin T. . Baillargeon G. . Decock W. . De Wever A. . Didžiulis V. . 2019 . Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2019 Annual Checklist. . ZIP . Catalogue of Life . TaxonID: 43043980 . 2019-11-11 . 2019-12-18 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191218203746/http://www.catalogueoflife.org/DCA_Export/zip-fixed/2019-annual.zip . dead .
2. Web site: NParks Euphorbia grandicornis . 2022-07-21 . www.nparks.gov.sg.
3. Web site: Plant database entry for Cow's Horn (Euphorbia grandicornis) with 19 images, one comment, and 25 data details. . 2022-07-21 . garden.org . en.
4. Web site: Euphorbia grandicornis . 2022-07-21 . www.llifle.com.
5. Blanc (1888), In: Hints Cacti, ed. 2: 68
6. Web site: Эуфорбия (молочай) - Все о комнатных растениях на flowersweb.info . 2022-07-21 . www.flowersweb.info.
7. Kemboi . Douglas . Langat . Moses K. . Siwe-Noundou . Xavier . Krause . Rui W. M. . Isaacs . Michelle Louise . Tembu . Vuyelwa Jacqueline . 25 Mar 2022 . In vitro antibacterial and cytotoxic effects of Euphorbia grandicornis Blanc chemical constituents . BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies . en . 22 . 1 . 90 . 10.1186/s12906-022-03571-8 . 2662-7671 . 8957186 . 35337309 . free .