Pedilanthus

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Pedilanthus, the slipper spurges, was a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae, now subsumed into the genus Euphorbia on the basis of phylogenic analysis in the early 2000s. The former genus is now referred to as the Pedilanthus clade or as Euphorbia sect. Crepidaria. It includes 15 species, 14 of which are restricted to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. Only one species (E. tithymaloides) has a wide distribution, from the Florida to the West Indies and South America, and cultivated in all tropical regions with several cultivars. Pedilanthus is distinguished from other Euphorbia by its inflorescence, a spurred cyathia with fused styles and with it glands hidden within a nectar spur inspiring the common names of slipper spurge, slipper flower or slipper plant. Unlike other Euphorbia, members of this clade are mostly hummingbird pollinated. Species of this clade occupy a remarkably wide range of habitats and life forms. Most of them, like E. tithymaloides, are small leafy shrubs found in the tropical dry forests of Mexico and the Caribbean. E. calcarata is a small woody tree of the tropical dry forests, E. cymbifera and E. lomelii are on the contrary almost leafless stem succulents.