Euphorbia antiquorum L.

DeFilipps, Robert A. & Krupnick, Gary A., 2018, The medicinal plants of Myanmar, PhytoKeys 102, pp. 1-341 : 68

Euphorbia antiquorum L.

Names.

Myanmar: kun, tazaung-gyi, tazaung-pyathat. English: milkhedge, fleshy spurge.

Range.

Native of Southeast Asia, especially India. Widespread in Myanmar.

Uses.

Stem: Branch sliced, dried, powdered, and administered to check profuse lochial discharge; Sap: Latex applied to warts. Root: Root bark used as a purgative.

Notes.

In India the whole plant used for skin infections; latex, for dropsy, as nerve tonic, and for bronchitis (with ginger and bulb of Thysanolaena ); pith for syphilis, dropsy, anasarca; bark (in combination with bark of two other species) on venereal sores; and the leaf for deafness ( Jain and DeFilipps 1991). In China the whole plant is used in a decoction to treat bladder inflammation; raw plant tissues are used internally for cholera; the stem latex is applied to warts, and the stem is compressed onto large boils ( Duke and Ayensu 1985). Perry (1980) discusses the uses of this species in China, Indo-China, and the Malay Peninsula, as well as Myanmar.

Chemical constituents of the plant include cycloartenol, epifriedelanol, euphol, euphorbol, friedelan-3alpha-ol, friedelan-3beta-ol, taraxerol, and taraxerone ( Duke and Ayensu 1985). The therapeutic use of this species is about the same as E. neriifolia (see below), but it is somewhat more poisonous; it is also used as a fish poison. This species and E. neriifolia appear to contain the same elements and have similar poisonous properties. Reported constituents of the latex are euphorbon, resin, rubber, malic acid, and gum ( Perry 1980).

Reference.

Perry (1980).