Euphorbia virosa

Euphorbia virosa, sometimes commonly the Namib candelabra naboom and in Afrikaans the gifboom (poison tree) or gifbos (poison bush), is a shrub or small tree reaching 3 m in height from a dense root system.

The short-stemmed plant may also be single-stemmed with a twist or spiral visible in the ridges on the main stem. Some specimens are multi-stemmed from ground level, or form clumps of several stems growing close together. The branches higher up do not normally spiral. Stems have four to eight vertical ridges that are densely populated with paired spines.

As with many euphorbias, the milky latex exuded from skin damage is poisonous. This one’s sap is extremely dangerous. It is one of the plant species used by the Bushmen long ago in poisoning their arrow tips for hunting.

The species distribution is in the Richtersveld, particularly the western, coastal area just south of the Gariep River; also found in Namibia and Angola.

The habitat is arid, rocky slopes. The species is not considered threatened in habitat early in the twenty first century (Frandsen, 2017; Smith, et al, 2017; iNaturalist; www.cactus-mall.com; http://redlist.sanbi.org).