Tag Archives: Euphorbiaceae

Acalypha fragilis Pax & K. Hoffm.

Fragile Copperleaf (Acalypha fragilis)

This species was described in 1937; apparently based on material that had been collected three years prior.

The Fragile Copperleaf is a tree that had a very restricted distribution in the Caatinga (a semi-arid tropical vegetation typical for interior north-eastern Brazil) in the Crato region in the state of Ceará, north-eastern Brazil.

The species was never found since and is believed to be possibly extinct.

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edited: 28.01.2024

Acalypha flaccida Hook. f.

Flaccid Copperleaf (Acalypha flaccida)

The Flaccid Copperleaf is known only from the type material that was collected in the middle of the 19th century on Isla Santiago, Galápagos Islands by Charles Darwin himself.

The species is, or maybe was, an erect annual herb with hirsute stems and about 2 to 4 cm long and 1,5 to 3 cm wide leaves. [1]

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References:  

[1] I. Loren Wiggins; D. M. Porter; E. F. Anderson: Flora of the Galápagos Islands. Stanford University Press 1971 

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edited: 11.06.2020

Tragia pogostemonoides Radcl.-Sm.

Pogostemon-like Tragia (Tragia pogostemonoides)

This species is only know from the type material that was collected in 1937 at Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, an region that is now urbanized, the plant is thus very likely already extinct.

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The photo below shows an unspecified congeneric taxon that was photographed at a different spot in Tanzania.

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unspecified Tragia species (Tragia sp.)

Photo: monklet
https://www.inaturalist.org/people/monklet
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

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edited: 12.02.2024

Acalypha sericea var. baurii (B. L. Rob. & Greenm.) Webster

Baur’s Silky Copperleaf (Acalypha sericea var. baurii)

The Silky Copperleaf (Acalypha sericea Anderss.) is endemic to the Galápagos Islands, where several varieties are found on many of the islands.

This one, discussed here, is apparently restricted to the Isla San Christóbal and is known only from a single collection that was purchased sometimes in the middle of the 19th century. [1]

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References:

[1] I. Loren Wiggins; D. M. Porter; E. F. Anderson: Flora of the Galápagos Islands. Stanford University Press 1971

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edited: 11.06.2020

Euphorbia equisetiformis Stewart

Equisetiform Spurge (Euphorbia equisetiformis)

This enigmatic species is known only from the type material that was collected on Isla Isabella, Galápagos Islands, it appears not to be related to any other Central- or South American species of its genus.

The species is a leafless, middle-sized shrub with several stems that bear clusters of branches on their upper nodes. [1]

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References:

[1] I. Loren Wiggins; D. M. Porter; E. F. Anderson: Flora of the Galápagos Islands. Stanford University Press 1971

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edited: 11.06.2020

Acalypha dikuluwensis P. A. Duvign. & Dewit

Dikuluwe Copperleaf (Acalypha dikuluwensis)

The Dikuluwe Copperleaf was found growing on copper-rich soils in copper outcrops in a small area in the eastern Katanga Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The habitat was completely destroyed by surface mining.

The Dikuluwe Copperleaf was not found since 1959 and was finally officially declared extinct in 2012.

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edited: 23.01.2022

Euphorbia boinensis Denis ex Humbert & Leandri

Ankarafantsika Spurge (Euphorbia boinensis)

The Ankarafantsika Spurge, a multi-branched, climbing plant, was restricted to a locality in northwestern Madagascar, it is known exclusively from two collections, one made in 1900, and the second one in 1920.

The locality were this species was found, are now highly degraded, it was never found since 1920 and is thought to be globally extinct. 

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edited: 18.01.2020

Acalypha rubrinervis Cronk

Red-veined Copperleaf (Acalypha rubrinervis 

The Red-veined Copperleaf was endemic to the island of Saint Helena; the litte tree, which, for its beautiful red male flower spikes, which hung in great profusion from every twig, the islanders named string-tree or stringwood, was restricted to the elevated parts of the southern slopes of Diana’s Peak.

The species reached a size of about 2 m in height; its red-veined leaves were 5 to 7 cm long and 3 to 5 cm wide, the male inflorescences were about 20 cm long, the flowers were red while the female flowers were rather inconspicuous.

The last individual was found by John Charles Melliss, an amateur naturalist that lived on Saint Helena.:

The last plant I saw of it in the island was one that had been transplanted to Oakbank about twenty years ago. It grew to a small tree about eighteen inches high, and blossomed and seeded freely, but is no longer there.” [1]

This last known individual died in about 1870.

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References:  

[1] John Charles Meliss: St. Helena: A Physical, Historical, and Topographical Description of the Island, including its Geology, Fauna, Flora, and Meteorology. London: L. Reeve & Co. 1875

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Depiction from: ‘John Charles Meliss: St. Helena: A Physical, Historical, and Topographical Description of the Island, including its Geology, Fauna, Flora, and Meteorology. London: L. Reeve & Co. 1875’ 

(public domain)

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edited: 05.11.2020

Acalypha wilderi Merr.

Wilder’s Copperleaf (Acalypha wilderi)  

Wilder’s Copperleaf was restricted to Rarotonga, the largest of the Cook Islands, and was scientifically described in the year 1931.  

The species was a mostly unbranched, about 2 m tall shrub, with long-stemmed, about 30 x 20 cm large leaves. It was monoecious, with plants producing either only female or male flowers, which appeared at the tops of the branches, the female flowers in short upright inflorescences, the male flowers in long, drooping ones.  

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The Night-blooming Cestrum (Cestrum nocturnum L.), a plant introduced to Rarotonga, is known for displacing other plant species by forming dense impenetrable thickets, and is thought to be one of the invasive species that are responsible for the extinction of Wilder’s Copperleaf.  

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edited: 23.09.2017

Euphorbia alcicornis Baker

Elk-horned Spurge (Euphorbia alcicornis)

The Elk-horned Spurge, described in 1887, is, or was, restricted to central Madagascar.
It is a succulent, multi-branched shrub or treelet, its upright growing branches are about 0,3 to 0,5 cm in diameter.

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The Elk-horned Spurge is not fully researched and might turn out to be not a valid species at all.

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edited: 18.01.2020

Macaranga sp. ‘Rapa Nui’

Rapa Nui Macaranga (Macaranga sp.)  

The genus Macaranga contains about 300 species of large-leaved trees, of which about 20 occur within the Polynesian region.  

The genus did once also occur on Rapa Nui, where it is known from subfossil pollen.  

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edited: 18.06.2019

Euphorbia quitensis Boiss.

Quito Spurge (Euphorbia quitensis)

The Quito Spurge is known only from two collections, the first one from 1862 and the other one from 1887, the species was found in mountain forests at elevations of 2500 to 3000 m on the western slopes of the Andes.

The species was never recorded since and is very likely already extinct. 

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edited: 21.01.2019

Euphorbia celastroides var. tomentella (Boiss.) Oudejans

Waianae Spurge (Euphorbia celastroides var. tomentella 

This plant, one of eight varieties within this species, was endemic to the Wai’anae Range on the island of O’ahu, Hawai’i Islands.  

It is now considered extinct.  

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The several varieties of some of the Hawaiian spurge species (Euphorbia celastroides Boiss., Euphorbia multiformis Hook. & Arn., Euphorbia remyi A. Gray ex Boiss., Euphorbia skottsbergii Sherff) are not accepted by all botanists and are sometimes included within the respective nominate forms.

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edited: 05.09.2020

Euphorbia tardieuana Leandri

Tardieu’s Spurge (Euphorbia tardieuana)  

This species is known exclusively from the type collection made in 1927 in the evergreen forests in the area around the two rivers Mangoro and Nosivolo at Madagascar’s east coast.  

The species appears to have never been found since, and since the type locality is now highly degraded, it may be completely extinct.  

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There exists the chance that Tardieu’s Spurge is identical with another spurge species, Mangelsdorff’s Spurge (Euphorbia mangelsdorffii Rauh.), a species that is quite well known and often kept in cultivation.

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edited: 13.05.2013

Amperea xiphoclada var. pedicellata R. J. F. Henderson

Pedicellate Broom Spurge (Amperea xiphoclada var. pedicellata)  

This variety of the Broom Spurge (Amperea xiphoclada (Sieber ex Spreng.) Druce) is known only from the type material that was collected near Sydney, New South Wales; it differs from the nominate form (see photo below) by the prominently pedicellate female flowers.

Since this form was never found since, it is considered extinct.

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Broom Spurge (Amperea xiphoclada (Sieber ex Spreng.) Druce); nominate race

Photo: Melburnian
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ 

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edited: 30.04.2021

Croton chittagongensis Chakrab. & N. P. Balakr.

Chittagong Croton (Croton chittagongensis)

The Chittagong Croton is, or probably was, a small tree that was found once in 1939 at a place named Myanimukh on a slope of a forested hill in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, a province in eastern Bangladesh.

The species was described in 1983; it has never found since the type collection and might well be extinct.

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edited: 13.08.2022

Euphorbia hexadenia Denis

Ambovatoby Spurge (Euphorbia hexadenia)

This species was described in 1887, originally as Euphorbia daphnoides Baill., however, this name was already used for another species, so the species was redescribed in 1921.

The species was apparently restricted to the Ambavatoby Bay at the north coast of Madagascar.

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Unfortunately I could not found any more information about this species.

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References:

[1] Thomas Haevermans; Germinal Rouhan; Wilbert Hetterscheid; Marc Teissier; Karim Belarbi; Xavier Aubriot; Jean-Noël Labat: Chaos revisited: nomenclature and typi fi cation of the Malagasy endemic Euphorbia subgenus Lacanthis  (Raf.) M. G. Gilbert. Adansonia sér 3. 31(2): 279-299. 2009

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edited: 23.04.2019

Ditaxis macrantha Pax & K. Hoffm.

Large-flowered Ditaxis (Ditaxis macrantha)  

This species is known only from the type collection which was collected in the year 1897 somewhere in the Manabí Province, Ecuador.  

The native vegetation in the type locality is now drastically altered.  

The Large-flowered Ditaxis was never found again since and thus is very likely extinct.  

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Photo: United States National Herbarium  
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0

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edited: 05.09.2020