Bitterroot Restoration

Order: Malpighiales
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Common name: Tikta sij (Beng.); Triangular spurge (Eng.).
Life cycle: Annual or Perennial
Native Range: Native to tropical and subtropical regions of Africa and the Americas.

The plants are woody shrubs or trees with a caustic, poisonous milky sap (latex). Their roots are fine or thick and fleshy or tuberous. Many species are more or less succulent, thorny or unarmed. The main stem and mostly also the side arms of the succulent species are thick and fleshy, 15–91 cm (6–36 inches) tall. The deciduous leaves are opposite, alternate or in whorls. In succulent species the leaves are mostly small and short-lived.

Juice of the plant is useful in chest pain and constipation. Their latex is applied to boils for early suppuration and healing. Their root bark is purgative. Latex is useful in killing maggots of wounds. Saline extract of the plant is antibiotic.