Euphorbiaceae, the spurge family, in common English sometimes called "euphorbias", which is also the name of a genus in the family, is a large family of flowering plants with about 300 genera and 7,500 species.[citation needed] Most[citation needed] spurges are herbs, but some, especially in the tropics, are shrubs or trees. Some are succulent and resemble cacti because of convergent evolution.[citation needed] Laypersons may refer to euphorbias having a growth form and succulence similar to cacti as being "cactuses".

This family occurs mainly in the tropics, with the majority of the species in the Indo-Malayan region and tropical America a good second. A large variety occurs in tropical Africa, but they are not as abundant or varied as in the two other tropical regions. However, Euphorbia also has many species in nontropical areas such as the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East, South Africa, and southern USA.

The leaves are alternate, seldom opposite, with stipules. They are mainly simple, but where compound, are always palmate, never pinnate. Stipules may be reduced to hairs, glands, or spines, or in succulent species are sometimes absent.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphorbiaceae