Species Euphorbia oatesii
Pictures from Observations
There aren’t any identifications of Euphorbia oatesii.
Range:
Location unknown
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Etymology of Euphorbia:
Gk. eu- = well; phorbe = pasture or fodder; probably after Euphorbus, Greek physician to Juba II, King of Mauretania. Juba was educated in Rome and married the daughter of Antony and Cleopatra. He was apparently interested in botany and had written about an African cactus-like plant from the slopes of Mount Atlas, which he had found or knew about, which was used as a powerful laxative. That plant may have been Euphorbia resinifera, and like all Euphorbias had a latexy exudate (milky emulsion from certain plants). Euphorbus had a brother named Antonius Musa who was the physician to Augustus Caesar in Rome. When Juba heard that Caesar had honoured his physician with a statue, he decided to honour his own physician by naming the plant he had written about after him.
Etymology of oatesii:
Named after Francis (Frank) Oates (1840–1875), a British naturalist, explorer, and uncle of Antarctic explorer Lawrence Oates. He was one of the first Europeans to see the Victoria Falls.
Scientific name:
Euphorbia oatesii Rolfe
Synonym of:
Unknown
Long etymology:
The Baobab tree is one of the curiosities described by Oates in his journals: "The tree was perfectly gigantic in girth, thickening as it got higher, though of no great height. It was swolen and bloated in a most extraordinary manner ... Though still flourishing, it was a mere shell, and, looking in at a hole in the side, I saw that it was open to the sky at the top. Inside is a good-sized chamber, strewed with minute bones of rats or some small mammalia. No doubt generations of owls have long had their abode here; one flew out at our approach."
The final leg of Oates' journey took him to through western Matabeleland to Victoria Falls. Delayed by poor weather and the hostility of local tribes, he finally reached the falls on 31 December 1874. Oates was one of the first few Europeans to see the falls in full flood. He died of a fever on 5 February, while returning to Tati.
Camp in the Veldt: An engraving based upon a watercolour by Frank Oates.
Oates' legacy, a voluminous set of journals and letters home, was collected and edited by his brother, Charles George Oates and published in 1881.[2] This work contains detailed descriptions of flora and fauna plus drawings and detailed maps based on Oates' observation. There is a permanent exhibit dedicated to Frank Oates at The Oates Museum at Selborne in Hampshire.
Protologue:
Oates, Matabele Land, ed. 2 408 (1889)
Synonym status:
Year published:
1889
Observations of Taxon
There aren’t any identifications of Euphorbia oatesii.
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