Tabaiba dulce (Euphorbia balsamifera ssp. balsamifera)

Succulent deciduous shrub, which contains milky latex and can reach up to 3-4 m tall, though most specimens are smaller. Leaves are lanceolate or oblong-spathulate, herbaceous or slightly fleshy, glaucous or green and 3.5 cm long, grouped at the tip of the branches. Flowers are small, terminal, solitary and greenish-yellow. Fruits (capsules), subglobose, with tiny seeds that are ejected and dispersed. Distribution of this Euphorbia is disjunct, the typical subspecies (ssp. balsamifera) being found in the Canaries and Northwest Africa, while the subspecies E. adenensis grows in the Horn of Africa, Arabian Peninsula and Socotra. It is found on all the Canary Islands, including the islets of Alegranza, Roque del Oeste, Montaña Clara, La Graciosa and Lobos. Common to coastal and lowland regions, it can form large communities, locally up to 800 m. In the Canary Islands and throughout its distribution area, the milky latex and trunks have been put to a variety of uses.