Figueira do inferno (Euphorbia piscatoria)

Shrub, compact and highly branched, up to 2 m (sometimes more), with thick succulent branches. Leaves linear-lanceolate or slightly oblong, 25-70 mm long and 3.5-12 mm wide, light green or glaucous, alternate and deciduous in the dry season. Flowers are small, greenish-yellow and arranged in clusters, while fruits are small capsules (less than 1 cm in diameter), greenish, becoming reddish when ripe In ecological and morphological terms, this species is equivalent to the succulent tabaibas of the Canary Islands, particularly Euphorbia lamarckii. Native to Madeira, this species is distributed almost exclusively in low-lying areas, from sea level to 300 m, in Madeira as well as Porto Santo and the Desertas Islands, although it grows at higher altitudes over some ravines and slopes. Occasionally abundant, it forms well defined communities with other species of xeric and thermophile habitats, although this vegetation is much diminished in the Canary Islands and only locally represented today.