Origin

Jamaica

Folk medicinal uses

It is possible that all these herbaceous Euphorbia species are used in a similar manner to make tea for colds and indigestion. The latex is made into a dressing for cuts. Beckwith mentions the use of the first three species to make tea for pains in the back and for use as a tonic. The juice is also said to remove warts. For gonorrhoea the plants are boiled with Phyllanthus niruri to make tea. In some parts milk weed tea is said to be good for high blood pressure. In the Grenadines E. hirta is thought to be a reliable cure for diarrhoea, and E. prostrata is used for the same purpose. Dalziel writes of E. hirta as known in medicine to be a remedy for asthma and inflammation of the respiratory tract, and called Australian or Queensland asthma weed.

Asprey, G.F; Phylis Thornton/ Medicinal plants of Jamaica. Parts I & II. – p. 12.