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Euphorbia tithymaloides L.

Synonym	:	Pedilanthus tithymaloides (L.) Poit.
Family	:	Euphorbiaceae
Local name	:	English - Devil's backbone, Zigzag plant Malayalam - Thathammachedi
Flowering and fruiting period	:	April-August
Distribution	:	Originally from West Indies; now naturalised in India
Distribution in Kerala	:	All Districts
Habitat	:	Introduced as garden plant, also runs wild.
		In folk medicine, tea brewed from the leaves of this plant  has been used to treat asthma, persistent coughing, laryngitis, mouth ulcers, and venereal disease.
Key botanical characters: Erect subshrubs; branchlets zigzag, latex milky. Leaves alternate, elliptic-ovate, variegated and deciduous. Cyathia terminal, cymose, subtended by petaloid bracts; glands 4, unequal; appendages and perianth absent. Male florets c. 25, female single; ovary 3-locular; ovule 1 per locule. Capsule of 3 bivalved cocci.