Γαλατόχορτον, Γαλόχορτον, Ευφορβία η έρπουσα
Etymology of Euphorbia prostrata: The genus was named for "Euphorbus", a Greek physician to Juba II - King of Mauretania of Numibia. In 12 BC, Juba named a species of this genus after his physician. Euphorbus's name derives from "εὖ" [ev], meaning "good, correctly" and "φορβή" [forvi], meaning "food", thus giving the meaning somehow "provides a good meal from consumption". Euphorbus name's etymology has probably nothing to do with the naming of that Euphorbia species as the genus's plants are poisonous and non-edible. In 1753, Carolus Linnaeus, the great taxonomist, assigned the name Euphorbia, to the entire genus. The epithet "prostrata" is Latin and means "growing along the ground", referring to its nature to grow along the ground (it is a ground-covering plant).
There are at least 32 kinds (species and subspecies) of the Euphorbia genus in the wild Cypriot habitat.
Euphorbia prostrata is a species growing in central-southern and western Cyprus up to a maximum altitude of 175 metres, but this one was surprisingly identified in Kalopanagiotis village at an elevation of 1400 metres (Nicosia district, central-western Cyprus). It is a naturalized, non-invasive plant in Cyprus. Its preferable habitat is areas partly of shade and party of sun, whether this is in lawns, gardens, sidewalk cracks, waste areas, and roadsides, on dry, sandy or gravelly soil. Its flowering period is between April and October.
