 "E. pekinensis" () is used in traditional Chinese medicine, where it is regarded as one of the 50 fundamental herbs.Several "Euphorbia" species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), like the spurge hawkmoths ("Hyles euphorbiae" and "Hyles tithymali"), as well as the giant leopard moth.Ingenol mebutate, a drug used to treat actinic keratosis, is a diterpenoid found in "Euphorbia peplus".