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Synopsis The genus Euphorbia, belonging to the family Euphorbiaceae, is unique among flowering plants due to the peculiar highly evolved inflorescence called cyathium, which is found only in this genus and a few of its allied genera. For India, the only treatise available now for the genus covering the entire country was published about 120 years ago by J.D. Hooker for Flora of British India (Vol. 5, 1887). Since then except for some regional works, none has attempted a taxonomic account of the genus for the entire country.

After many years of survey work and research work, the authors have now brought out a comprehensive up-to-date taxonomic revision of the interesting genus for India. The genus Euphorbia has 80 species indigenous to India and 4 exotic, introduced and naturalized ones. The genus is rich in endemism with 30 species and 7 varieties endemic to India. This work provides a detailed introduction, reviewing earlier works on all aspects of morphology, anatomy, cytology, embryology, palynology, economic botany, phylogeny, etc. The taxonomic part provides detailed descriptions for the genus, subgeneric taxa, species and infraspecific taxa. Simple dichotomous keys are presented for easy identification of subgenera, sections, species and infraspecific taxa. Line drawings with detailed morphological features have been provided for 77 species, many of them published for the first time. The work also includes 40 photographs, including those of some type specimens. A comprehensive bibliography includes citations of important literature relevant to India. Alphabetic indexes to botanical and vernacular names are provided.

This work will be useful for students, teachers and researchers of Botany and allied branches and will also prove useful to all workers in applied aspects for correctly identifying their specimens.