From the Greek pedilon — shoe, alluding to the ‘slipper’-like appearance of the floral cyathium.

Shrubs or small trees, deciduous, perennial, male and female flowers on the same plant; stems and foliage with white latex. Indumentum of simple, multicellular hairs. Stipules entire, inconspicuous, soon shed. Leaves alternate, stalked, unlobed, penninerved, without glands; margins entire. Inflorescences terminal or axillary, pseudanthial and irregular, comprising 1 or 2 bisexual involucres per axil; involucres (cyathia) subtended by 2 bracts, shoe- or boat-shaped, top portion of involucre forming a conspicuous spur. Male flowers stalked; calyx lobes absent; petals absent; disk absent; stamens solitary. Female flowers stalked; calyx lobes and petals reduced to small rim below ovary; disk absent; ovary 3-chambered; styles 3, long-fused at base, divided into 2. Fruits capsular, dehiscent, 3-lobed, surface smooth. Seeds ovoid to roundish, ecarunculate.

13 species from the New World. 1 species sparingly naturalised in subtropical and tropical Australia.

Cuttings.

Stems succulent, zig-zagging at each node; involucres (cyathia) subtended by 2 bracts, shoe- or boat-shaped, top portion forming a conspicuous spur.

Dressler (1957), Koutnik (1985).

Source: Forster, P. (2002). Euphorbiaceae. In: Spencer, R.. 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.