Botanical and Common Names
- Family Euphorbiaceae
- Euphorbia species
- Euphorbia hirta syn. Euphorbia pilulifera (Asthma Spurge, Pill-Bearing-Spurge; Spanish: Golondrina, Yerba de Golondrina, Pegahueso, Picachli, Memeya [Nahuatl])
- Euphorbia lathyrus (Caper Spurge)
- Euphorbia pekinensis (Da Ji)
- Euphorbia corollata (Flowering Spurge, Spurge, Blooming Spurge, Milkweed, White Pursley, Tramp’s Spurge)
Cautions
Many Euphorbia species are used as arrow poisons and not for human health. Therefore, proper identification and knowledgeable useage is of vital importance.
Caper Spurge is a toxic plant and should not be used under any circumstances.
Da Ji is also a toxic plant and should be used only under professional supervision. It is not compatible with licorice species because it neutralizes their effects.
Description
Asthma Spurge is native to India and Australia, but now found throughout the tropics. It is an erect annual or perennial, growing to twenty inches with pointed oval leaves and clusters of small flowers. The aerial parts are gathered when in flower.
The Caper Spurge is a vigorous biennial common throughout much of Europe, Asia, and North America. It can be found in low-lying areas, growing to about three feet. It has a hollow stem, heart-shaped leaves, clusters of small green flowers, and green fruit. The fruit is picked in summer.
Da Ji is native to China and cultivated in the eastern and central provinces. It is an erect annual or perennial with oblong leaves and dense clusters of small flowers. The root is unearthed in early spring.
The Flowering Spurge is a perennial, tall, with milky sap. The erect stems are smooth to hairy and grow to about three feet in height. The flowers are numerous, but small, and found at the ends of the branches. These flower cups contain many tiny male flowers with a single, large female bloom. The plant thrives in dry, rocky prairies, open woodlands, fields, roadsides, and disturbed areas.
History
As its name suggests, the Asthma Spurge has a traditional useage for treating asthma.
The Cherokee used a related species, E. maculata, to treat sore nipples and skin disorders. Many other related species were used for constipation.
For thousands of years, Caper Spurge was taken as a violent purge, indicating how medicine has changed. Purging was the first resort of many traditional medical systems and never more so than in Western medicine in the 18th century. Caper seeds were commonly used, but an oil extracted from them was also used, in very small doses, as it is highly toxic.
In the past, the milky latex of the Caper Spurge was used as a depilatory (hair removal) and to remove corns.
In the 1st century CE, the Greek physician, Dioscorides, recommended “6 or 7 grains of the seeds in pill form or taken with figs or dates, which purges from below water, phlegm, and choler.” It was still used this way in rural France in the 19th century.
The leaves of the Caper Spurge was employed by beggars to raise unsightly sores on their skin, thereby increasing their chances of eliciting pity and alms.
In the 16th century, an Aztec remedy was found that used the roots to treat a distended abdomen and to expel intestinal worms.
Euphorbia comes from the Greek euphorbion, and so used in honour of Euphorbos, a celebrated Greek physician of the 1st century BCE.
The Mesquakies pounded a half-inch piece of the Flowering Spurge root and boiled it in water to drink before breakfast as a laxative. It was also used to treat rheumatism, and after five or six doses, the ailment would disappear.
The Thyme-leaves spurge (E. serpyllifolia) was used by the Omaha and Ponca tribes to increase milk flow in nursing mothers and for abdominal bloating in children. The Lakota used a different species for the same purpose, indicating that these tribes were utilizing a Doctrine of Signatures concept where the appearance of a plant is indicative of its intended use. In this case, the milky sap “indicated it should be used for increasing the milk in nursing mothers.”
Key Actions
(a) Asthma Spurge
- antiamebic
- antispasmodic
- anti-inflammatory
- antiseptic
- anitasmatic
- expectorant
- sedative
(b) Caper Spurge
- violent purgative
(c) Da Ji
- purgative
(d) Flowering Spurge
- diaphoretic
- expectorant
- strong emetic
Key Components
(a) Asthma Spurge
- flavonoids
- terpenoids
- alkanes
- phenolic acids
- shikimic acid
- choline
(b) Caper Spurge
- seeds contain a fixed oil and resin
- latex contains euphorbone
(c) Da Ji
- euphorbon
(d) Flowering Spurge
- flavonoids
- amino acids
- alkanes
- triterpenoids
- alkaloids
Medicinal Parts
Aerial parts (Asthma Spurge), seeds and latex (Caper Spurge), root (Da Ji), roots and leaves (Flowering Spurge)
Shikimic acid and choline in Asthma Spurge may be partly responsible for the antispasmodic action of the plant.
In a study of sixty Euphorbia species native to Europe and Africa, only seven failed to produce an allergic skin reaction. All parts of the plant contain toxic substances known to produce dermatitis.
Traditional Uses
(a) Asthma Spurge
This plant has the ability to relax the bronchial tubes and ease breathing, making it a good remedy for bronchial asthma. Being mildly sedating and an expectorant, it is also taken for bronchitis and other respiratory tract conditions. Usually, it is taken along with such other antiasthmatic herbs as gumplant or lobelia.
In Anglo-American tradition, it is taken to treat intestinal amebiasis.
In Mexico, an infusion of the leaves is still used today for inflammations of the digestive tract and diarrhea, but it can be toxic if improperly used. The infusion is safe when used topically to treat skin inflammations.
The sap is used to treat warts, but it can be very irritating to the surrounding tissue.
In Mexico, the plant is also used to treat scorpion stings, snake bites, vaginitis, sores and wounds.
(b) Caper Spurge
This plant is so violent a purgative that it is rarely, if ever, used in contemporary herbal medicine.
(c) Da Ji
It is classified as a toxic herb in Chinese herbal medicine and, therefore, prescribed only for relatively serious illnesses. It is taken as a cathartic to purge excess fluid in such conditions as pleurisy and ascites (excessive abdominal fluid), as well as for treatment of kidney problems, especially nephritis. Although Chinese research has confirmed Da Ji is therapeutically useful in the treatment of acites and nephritis, there are significant side effects.
Externally, it is applied to inflamed sores to reduce swelling.
Another species (E. kansui), is similar to Da Ji, but it has a stronger cathartic action and given only to those with strong constitutions.
E. lancifolia, native to the West Indies, is used to stimulate breast-milk production.
E. atoto, native to Malaysia and Indochina, is used to induce delayed menstruation and as an abortifacient.
