Euphorbia lathyris

Euphorbia lathyris L. (Medit.) – A rather frequent and more or less established escape from cultivation. Already known in Belgium in the 16th century but probably only as a cultivated plant. As pointed out by Verloove (2002, 2006) Euphorbia lathyris is still frequent (despite being less frequently cultivated these days) and occurs in large parts of Flanders but genuinely naturalized populations are probably rare.

Selected literature:


Smith J. (1995) Caper-spurge. Plant-Lore Notes & News 41: 199-200.

Van der Spek H.M. (1978) Behoort Euphorbia lathyris L. werkelijk tot de Nederlandse flora? Gorteria 9: 7-9.

Verloove F. (2002) Ingeburgerde plantensoorten in Vlaanderen. Mededeling van het Instituut voor Natuurbehoud n° 20: 227 p.

Verloove F. (2006) Euphorbia lathyris. In: Van Landuyt W., Hoste I., Vanhecke L., Van den Bremt P., Vercruysse W. & De Beer D., Atlas van de flora van Vlaanderen en het Brussels gewest. Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek, Nationale Plantentuin van België en Flo.Wer: 394.

Scratchpads developed and conceived by (alphabetical): Ed Baker, Katherine Bouton Alice Heaton Dimitris Koureas, Laurence Livermore, Dave Roberts, Simon Rycroft, Ben Scott, Vince Smith