形态
多年生草本植物，株高3-4m，具有毒性的白色乳汁。茎肉质，绿色。叶卵形至卵状矩圆形，叶背中 脉龙古状突起，叶面不整齐，先端短尖，边缘波形，聚伞花序顶生，总苞左右对称，闭合，鲜红色或紫色。
产地及习性
原产美洲热带。喜温暖。耐阴，在半阴环境的地方有利开花。怕风吹。适宜在干燥无风的环境条件下生长。以排水良好、肥沃的沙质土壤为宜。冬季室温应保持在10℃以上为宜。
繁殖与栽培
扦插繁殖。在栽培中注意每年或者隔年翻盆一次，枝条过长时要截短或立支柱扶持。每半个月施一次肥。
应用
红雀珊瑚茎干绿色，有规律的弯曲，颇为奇特。总苞片鲜红，形似小鸟的头冠，美丽秀雅。适宜盆栽装饰几案及书桌等。
性味归经
酸、微涩，寒。有小毒。
功能主治
清热解毒，散瘀消肿，止血生肌。外用治跌打损伤，骨折，外伤出血，疖肿疮疡，眼角膜炎。
用法用量
外用适量，鲜品捣烂敷患处。
传说，红雀珊瑚原是一种极美的鸟，全身长着五彩斑斓的羽毛，头上戴着形态典雅的羽冠。腾空起飞，流光溢彩……它生长在最严寒的冰山雪地，火红的嘴能唱出天籁的歌声，指引迷途的人走出雪山。但是它却爱上了人类。当它爱着的人饿了，它会用它美丽的嘴唇凿开坚硬的冰层，捕捉鱼类给他吃；当它爱着的人冷了，它会剖开自己的心脏来温暖他。它就是这样义无反顾地对待自己的爱情，即使是遭到了背叛……可是直到它死后，它的爱情还是不会结束，它的尸身化成一道红光，指引它爱着的人回家的方向。绯红的光芒一路落满红色的荧光，瞬间冰雪地里开满了红雀珊瑚。当最后一丝光芒熄灭，它亲爱的人终于走出了雪山……
【摘录】《全国中草药汇编》
The red slipper spurge or devil's backbone (Pedilanthus tithymaloides ‘Variegatus’) is a succulent shrub with zigzagged stems native to dry tropical forests of Florida, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, and northern South America. Pedilanthus, literally "slipper flower", are members of the Euphorbiaceae, but the 15 or so species are unique enough to have their own clade or branch of the family.
Some, like Pedilanthus tithymaloides [ped e lan' thus tith' e ma loi' dees], are common. It has eight recognized subspecies and one horticultural variety—the photographed 'Variegatus'. In India, the devil's backbone is a 'pest plant'. It escaped from cultivation and "grows profusely in marginal waste land* in northern and eastern India without any agricultural management...." (Srilekha De, et al, 1997)
Other members teeter on the brink of extinction. Pedilanthus pulchellus was described in 1917 and was not found again until 2003 by Mark Olsen. It survives as a small population on a mountain in Mexico. Pedilanthus tomentellus, is grown as an ornamental, but disappeared in the wild sometime in the 1980s. (William Cocke, 2003)
Pedilanthus flowers, variously described as shaped like slippers, red birds, ducks, or even cow skulls, are only open at the tip. The stigma and anthers are exserted—extending beyond the brightly colored petals. Most Pedilanthus are pollinated by hummingbirds. (Mark Olsen, 2002)
Like other members of the Euphorbiaceae, slipper spurges exude milky latex when broken. The latex acts as a deterrent; it is bitter to mammals and becomes tacky when exposed to air. It gums-up the mouthparts of chewing insects. The latex has been known to cause contact dermatitis in some individuals. Among other chemicals, the latex contains hydrocarbons—fuel.
Srilekha De, Archana Bag, and Subhendu Mukherji have examined the devil's backbone as a petrocrop, an alternative to crude oil and coal. Using petroleum ether, benzene, and ethyl acetate, the team extracted various weights of hydrocarbons from dried devil's backbone. The first extraction and distillation (soaking in petroleum ether and distilling the PE away) resulted in a waxy hydrocarbon with interesting properties.
When burned, it produces larger amounts of heat than any currently used fossil fuel. Coal produces slightly more than 7,000 calories of energy per gram, fuel oil about 11,000 calories/gram, and gasoline about 11,500 calories. But the waxy hydrocarbon from devil's backbone produces about 18,990 calories of heat per gram.
