Family Aextoxicaceae, which is assigned to order Euphorbiales in some older systems, is assigned to order Berberidopsidales in newer systems, including that of the APG.
Ethnobotany
Some of these species are highly toxic.
In the Mediterranean area, some use euphorbia's leaves for fishing in rivers: leaves release their toxic substance, that goes immediately in solution with water, and when the fish is reached by it its swim-bladder swells until it explodes, killing the fish. The dead fish comes then to the surface and is easily collectible. This practice is however extremely unsafe, given that the toxic element remains in the tissues of the fish, so it would be dangerous to eat it.
As defined by Cronquist (1988) the Euphorbiales consist of four families and more than 8000 species, essentially all of which belong to the Euphorbiaceae.
One may presume that the Euphorbiales have arisen either from some ancient group intermediate between the Flacourtiaceae and the Elaeocarpales and Malvales or directly from some Flacourtiaceae-like lower Violales.
In defense of Cronquist, he is correct that the "Euphorbiaceae are so diverse in vegetative and chemical features and in pollen-morphology that one could compare some members of the group to any of a wide range of families and orders of dicotyledons" (p.
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