Trovisco-macho (Euphorbia stygiana)

Highly branched shrub or small tree, up to 10 m. Its branches have milky latex, like other species of the genus Euphorbia. Leaves are entire, alternate and oblanceolate, between 15 cm long and 4 cm wide. Flowers are numerous, greenish-yellow, and produce warty fruits (capsules), 5-8 mm in diameter. A very close relative of Euphorbia mellifera, found in Madeira and the Canaries, it grows among the juniper forests of the high mountain zones, inland crags and damp coastal cliffs, on all the islands except for La Graciosa, especially between 600 and 1,000 m. A different subspecies has been described for the island of Santa Maria: E. stygiana ssp. santamariae, which has a different shape and trunk. This rare, localized plant is considered an endangered species throughout the Azores.