S. Holmes 1993. Euphorbia. In: Flora of Somalia 1: 306-337
Plants weakly erect, to 50 cm tall, with spreading succulent branches from a large, fleshy, tuberous root. Branches (3-)5-6-angled, deeply winged and deeply constricted into segments up to 5 cm long and 6 cm wide; angles prominently toothed, teeth about 2 cm apart at the broadest, basal part of the segments, much closer and less prominent towards the constrictions; spine shields joined, forming a continuous horny margin along the angles, spine-pairs robust, 1-3.5 cm long towards the base of the segments, much shorter at the contrictions; prickles vestigial. Flowering eyes 2-8 mm above the base of the spines, flanked by a pair of secondary spines 1-5 mm long; cymes solitary, 1-forked, with cyathia arranged vertically. Cyathia subsessile, about 7 mm in diameter; glands about 3.5 mm wide, golden yellow, touching. Perianth of pistillate flowers reduced to a a shallowly toothed rime; styles about 5 mm long, united for half their length. Capsules sessile. to 6 mm long and 10 mm in diameter, obtusely 3-lobed, bases truncate, tops slightly pointed, purple along the surutures; seeds subglobose, about 3 mm long, 2.8 mm in diameter, smooth, buff, finely speckled.
Euphorbia leontopoda grows in rocky ground un Buxus woodlands at 1300-1650 m. It is know only from region N1 of the Flora of Somalia.