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Euphorbiales

Plantae

Subkingdom Tracheobionta

Division Magnoliophyta -- angiosperms, flowering plants

Class Magnoliopsida -- dicotyledons

Subclass Rosidae

Order Euphorbiales

Newer classification systems, including the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group's APG II system, merge order Euphorbiales into order Malpighiales.

Families

• Buxaceae (boxwood) - 2 genera
• Saxifragales
• Euphorbiaceae (spurge) - 71 genera, including cassava, castor bean and Poinsettia
• Simmondsiaceae (goatnut, jojoba) - 1 genus

Family Aextoxicaceae, which is assigned to order Euphorbiales in some older systems, is assigned to order Berberidopsidales in newer systems, including that of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group.

Ethnobotany

Some of these species are highly toxic.

In the Mediterranean area, some use euphorbia's leaves for fishing in rivers: leaves release their toxic substance, that goes immediately in solution with water, and when the fish is reached by it its swim-bladder swells until it explodes, killing the fish. The dead fish comes then to the surface and is easily collectible. This practice is however extremely unsafe, given that the toxic element remains in the tissues of the fish, so it would be dangerous to eat it.

Reference

http://www.itis.usda.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=28020 as of 2002-05-30