Common names: Petty Spurge, Radium Weed, Cancer Weed, Milk Weed
Taxonomic name: Euphorbia peplus
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Uses: skin cancers, liver spots, moles and skin tags
Area of origin: Everywhere except Southern Asia and the Americas
Warnings: Do not get the sap in your eyes! Yes, I put that in bold for a reason. Do not ingest and be careful where you apply the sap.
Petty Spurge (Euphorbia peplus) is a pretty little plant with a very specific talent. It is one of the premiere remedies for skin cancers! The milky sap has compounds in it that interfere with and kill rapidly growing cells, making it excellent for treating melanomas. You can use it topically to remove unwanted moles and skin tags. Used carefully, it can remove these unsightly growths. Petty Spurge also works to lighten liver spots.
Petty Spurge is so good at this, that it was called ‘Radium Weed’ here in Australia and ‘Cancer Weed’ elsewhere. It was called that because it is as good as the old cancer treatments that included radium.
It is a soft, upright, green plant that doesn’t grow very tall. It does flower but the flowers are hidden away inside special structures.
Extra Warning:
Don’t take this one internally and keep the sap away from your eyes! The sap is very caustic. Do not apply it to mucous membranes of genitalia and don’t let it get on skin where it is not wanted.
Ligaya Garden 