# Pedilanthus > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Pedilanthus > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Pedilanthus.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedilanthus > Source revision: 1354825520 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) ***Pedilanthus***, the **slipper spurges**,[2][3] was a [plant](/source/Plant) [genus](/source/Genus) of the [family](/source/Family_(taxonomy)) [Euphorbiaceae](/source/Euphorbiaceae), now subsumed into the genus *[Euphorbia](/source/Euphorbia)*[2] on the basis of [phylogenic](/source/Phylogenic) analysis in the early 2000s.[4] The former genus is now referred to as the *Pedilanthus* [clade](/source/Clade)[2][3] or as ***Euphorbia* sect. *Crepidaria***.[2] It includes 15 species, 14 of which are restricted to [Mexico](/source/Mexico), [Central America](/source/Central_America) and the [Caribbean](/source/Caribbean). Only one species (*[E. tithymaloides](/source/Euphorbia_tithymaloides)*) has a wide distribution, from the [Florida](/source/Florida) to the [West Indies](/source/West_Indies) and [South America](/source/South_America), and cultivated in all [tropical](/source/Tropical) regions with several [cultivars](/source/Cultivar).[4] ## Description and habitats *Pedilanthus* is distinguished from other *Euphorbia* by its inflorescence, a spurred [cyathia](/source/Cyathia) with fused [styles](/source/Style_(botany)) and with it glands hidden within a nectar spur[4] inspiring the common names of slipper spurge, slipper flower or slipper plant. Unlike other *Euphorbia*, members of this clade are mostly [hummingbird](/source/Hummingbird) [pollinated](/source/Pollinated).[5] Species of this clade occupy a remarkably wide range of [habitats](/source/Habitat_(ecology)) and life forms.[5] Most of them, like *[E. tithymaloides](/source/Euphorbia_tithymaloides)*, are small leafy [shrubs](/source/Shrub) found in the [tropical dry forests](/source/Tropical_dry_forest) of [Mexico](/source/Mexico) and the [Caribbean](/source/Caribbean). *[E. calcarata](/source/Euphorbia_calcarata)* is a small woody [tree](/source/Tree) of the tropical dry forests, *[E. cymbifera](/source/Euphorbia_cymbifera)* and *[E. lomelii](/source/Euphorbia_lomelii)* are on the contrary almost leafless stem [succulents](/source/Succulent). *[E. finkii](/source/Euphorbia_finkii)* is found in Mexico's [moist forests](/source/Moist_forest). Cacho et al. divide the clade into four subclades: a [xeric](/source/Xeric) subclade, with succulent shrubs of tropical deciduous forest, scrub or desert; a [mesic](/source/Mesic_habitat) subclade which includes all five species that inhabit mesic forests except *E. finkii* which forms its own subclade; and *[E. personata](/source/Euphorbia_personata)* and *E. tithymaloides* with its subspecies which to together make up the fourth subclade.[5] *Pedianthus* are widely cultivated as a [ornamental plants](/source/Ornamental_plant) as hedges and in gardens in the tropics and subtropics.[6] ## Synonyms - *Crepidaria* [Haw.](/source/Adrian_Hardy_Haworth) - *Diadenaria* [Klotzsch](/source/Johann_Friedrich_Klotzsch) & [Garcke](/source/Garcke) - *Hexadenia* [Klotzsch](/source/Johann_Friedrich_Klotzsch) & [Garcke](/source/Garcke) - *Tithymaloides* [Ortega](/source/Ortega) - *Ventenatia* [Tratt.](/source/Tratt.) ## Species and subspecies The former genus *Pedilanthus* consists of:[4] - *[Euphorbia bracteata](/source/Euphorbia_bracteata)* (*Pedilanthus bracteatus*, *Pedilanthus pavonis*) - *[Euphorbia calcarata](/source/Euphorbia_calcarata)* (*Pedilanthus calcaratus*) - *[Euphorbia coalcomanensis](/source/Euphorbia_coalcomanensis)* (*Pedilanthus coalcomanensis*) - *[Euphorbia colligata](/source/Euphorbia_colligata)* (*Pedilanthus connatus*) - *[Euphorbia conzattii](/source/Euphorbia_conzattii)* (*Pedilanthus pulchellus*) - *[Euphorbia cymbifera](/source/Euphorbia_cymbifera)* (*Pedilanthus cymbiferus*) - *[Euphorbia cyri](/source/Euphorbia_cyri)* (*Pedilanthus tomentellus*) - *[Euphorbia diazlunana](/source/Euphorbia_diazlunana)* (*Pedilanthus diazlunanus*) - *[Euphorbia dressleri](/source/Euphorbia_dressleri)* (*Pedilanthus gracilis*) - *[Euphorbia finkii](/source/Euphorbia_finkii)* (*Pedilanthus finkii*) - *[Euphorbia lomelii](/source/Euphorbia_lomelii)* (*Pedilanthus macrocarpus*) - *[Euphorbia peritropoides](/source/Euphorbia_peritropoides)* (*Pedilanthus peritropoides*, *Pedilanthus palmeri*) - *[Euphorbia personata](/source/Euphorbia_personata)* (*Pedilanthus personatus*, *Pedilanthus nodiflorus*) - *[Euphorbia tehuacana](/source/Euphorbia_tehuacana)* (*Pedilanthus tehuacanus*) - *[Euphorbia tithymaloides](/source/Euphorbia_tithymaloides)* (*Pedilanthus tithymaloides*, *Tithymalus tithymaloides*) - devil's backbone, redbird cactus - *Euphorbia tithymaloides* subsp. *angustifolia* - *Euphorbia tithymaloides* subsp. *bahamensis* - *Euphorbia tithymaloides* subsp. *jamaicensis* - *Euphorbia tithymaloides* subsp. *padifolia* - *Euphorbia tithymaloides* subsp. *parasitica* - *Euphorbia tithymaloides* subsp. *retusa* - *Euphorbia tithymaloides* subsp. *smallii* - *Euphorbia tithymaloides* subsp. *tithymaloides* ## References 1. Dorsey, Brian L.; Haevermans, Thomas; Aubriot, Xavier; Morawetz, Jeffery J.; Riina, Ricarda; Steinmann, Victor W.; Berry, Paul E. (2013-04-20). ["Phylogenetics, morphological evolution, and classification of Euphorbia subgenus Euphorbia"](http://doi.wiley.com/10.12705/622.1). *Taxon*. **62** (2): 291–315. [Bibcode:2013Taxon..62..291D](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2013Taxon..62..291D). [doi:10.12705/622.1](https://doi.org/10.12705/622.1). [hdl:2027.42/146962](https://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/146962). [S2CID 87352157](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:87352157) 1. Horn, James W.; van Ee, Benjamin W.; Morawetz, Jeffery J.; Riina, Ricarda; Steinmann, Victor W.; Berry, Paul E.; Wurdack, Kenneth J. (May 2012). "Phylogenetics and the evolution of major structural characters in the giant genus Euphorbia L. (Euphorbiaceae)". *Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution*. **63** (2): 305–326. [Bibcode:2012MolPE..63..305H](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2012MolPE..63..305H). [doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2011.12.022](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2011.12.022). [hdl:10261/169091](https://hdl.handle.net/10261/169091). [ISSN 1095-9513](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1095-9513). [PMID 22273597](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22273597). [S2CID 22055432](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:22055432) 1. Olson, Mark E.; Lomelí S., José A.; Cacho, N. Ivalú (2005). ["Extinction threat in the Pedilanthus clade (Euphorbia, Euphorbiaceae), with special reference to the recently rediscovered E. conzattii (P. pulchellus)"](https://bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.3732/ajb.92.4.634). *American Journal of Botany*. **92** (4): 634–641. [doi:10.3732/ajb.92.4.634](https://doi.org/10.3732/ajb.92.4.634). [ISSN 0002-9122](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0002-9122). [PMID 21652441](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21652441) 1. Steinmann, V. W. (2003). ["The submersion of *Pedilanthus* into *Euphorbia* (Euphorbiaceae)"](https://web.archive.org/web/20080625174252/http://www.ecologia.edu.mx/publicaciones/resumeness/ABM/ABM.65.2003/acta65(45-50).pdf). *Acta Botanica Mexicana*. **65**: 45-50. 1. Cacho, N. I.; Berry, P. E.; Olson, M. E.; Steinmann, V. W.; Baum, D. A. (2010). ["Are spurred cyathia a key innovation? Molecular systematics and trait evolution in the slipper spurges (Pedilanthus clade: Euphorbia, Euphorbiaceae)"](https://bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.3732/ajb.0900090). *American Journal of Botany*. **97** (3): 493–510. 1. Dressler, Robert L. (1957). ["The Genus Pedilanthus (Euphorbiaceae)"](https://www.jstor.org/stable/41764794). *Contributions from the Gray Herbarium of Harvard University*. '***(182): 1-188.*** --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Pedilanthus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedilanthus) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedilanthus?action=history)). 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