Subshrub or shrub to 5 m high. Root tubers edible, up to 50 cm long. Leaves deeply palmatipartite, 3-7-lobed, the lobes oblanceolate to lanceolate or ovate, 5-17 cm long, 1-6 cm wide; tip acute to long-pointed; base narrowed to wedge-shaped.Male flower stalks 2-7 mm long. Fruits ovoid,15-17 mm long,14-15 mm wide.
Cultivated for the starchy root tubers. Naturalised in a few places in tropical Qld.
M. glaziovii Müll. Arg., the source of Ceara Rubber, is often listed as an ornamental; it grows to 10 m tall and has fruits that are not winged.
M. grahamii Hook., False Cassava, from S America is a subshrub or shrub to 4 m high. Root tubers absent. Leaves deeply palmatipartite, 5-13-lobed, the lobes oblong to oblanceolate, 5-14 cm long, 0.9-3.5 cm wide; tip long-pointed; base narrowed.Male flower stalks 7-10 mm long. Fruits roundish, about 14 mm long, 15 mm wide. Often cultivated as an ornamental and naturalised in S Qld and NE NSW. This species does not produce edible tubers.
S America.
Source: (2002). Euphorbiaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 3. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 2. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
