Shend / African Milk Bush

Euphorbia umbellata

outdoor

How to identify Shend

Identify Shend by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.

Check the distinctive field mark: Candelabra-shaped succulent shrub.
Confirm leaf margin: Entire (smooth edge).
Confirm leaf surface: Glabrous.
Confirm flower colour: Green.
In India, compare location records such as Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat.
Confirm it sits within the Euphorbiaceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Shend.

Leaf margin: Entire (smooth edge)recorded
Leaf surface: GlabrousrecordedSmooth, hairless.“The leaves are attached directly to stems by their base and either have smooth edges or very small teeth towards the ends.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Characters marked “recorded” are for Shend itself; the rest are typical of the Euphorbiaceae family.

Characters marked “recorded” are for Shend itself; the rest are typical of the Euphorbiaceae family — flowering plants only.

African Milk Bush (Euphorbia umbellata) is a species in the Euphorbiaceae family. In India it has been recorded in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat.

Locally it is planted as an ornamental.

Botanical family

Spurge/Euphorbia family

Shend belongs to the Euphorbiaceae family.

The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.

Point your camera at Shend or any plant and SASYA identifies it instantly — on-device, offline, and private.

If you are starting from symptoms instead of a diagnosis, use the plant disease symptom checker to narrow the cause before treating.