On a Spurge – Botanical Garden, Montréal, Québec

The genus of this succulent takes its name from Euphorbus, personal physician of Juba II (52 BCE – CE 23) the king of Numidia, a Berber kingdom in what is now eastern Algeria, who dedicated these plants to him in an opus that described their medicinal virtues. Juba’s father had supported Pompey in the civil war against Julius Caesar. When Caesar triumphed, the victor brought the son to Rome as a hostage. While at Rome, the young man learned Latin and Greek, became Romanized and was granted Roman citizenship. Through dedication to his studies, he is said to have become one of Rome's best educated citizens, and by the age of 20 he wrote a work on the subject of Roman Archaeology.

Notwithstanding the connection of the genus with ancient Rome, this particular species is actually native to central-northern Madagascar, where it grows in the open coastal forests mainly on calcareous rocks. The species is named after the French botanist and collector René Viguier (1880-1931) who visited Madagascar in 1912.