WILDFLOWERS OF NEW MEXICO

Erect, slightly hairy stems reach 8-inches tall with clusters of tiny flowers at branch tips or leaf nodes. Note the opposite leaves, hairy seed capsules, and tiny, white, petal-like lobes in the modified flowers (use lens). All Euphorbias contain a toxic, milky latex sap that can cause dermatitis.

FLOWERS: July–September. Flowers highly modified into a tiny, cup-like structure with 5 white, 2–4 lobed, petal-like appendages (use lens). Fruit is a 3-sided, hairy capsule that develops on a short, drooping stem from each female flower.

LEAVES: Opposite. Leaf stems (petioles) short or indistinct from tapering base of blade, entire leaf 3/4–3-inches long (2–8 cm); shape variable from linear to spatula- or lance-shaped, margins finely-toothed in upper half, tip pointed or rounded, surfaces hairy.

HABITAT: Dry sandy, gravelly soils, disturbed areas; desert grasslands and scrub, juniper savannas.

ELEVATION: 3,300–6,800 feet.)

RANGE: AZ, CA, NM, TX.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Toothed Spurge, E. davidii, is very similar but the flower cup doesn’t have tiny, white, petal-like glands (use lens). Hairy-fruit Spurge, E. cuphosperma, has hairy seed capsules but no tiny, white, petal-like lobes.

NM COUNTIES: Southern and western halves of NM in low- to mid-elevation arid habitats: Bernalillo, Cibola, Dona Ana, Eddy, Grant, Hidalgo, Lincoln, Luna, McKinley, Otero, Rio Arriba, Roosevelt, Sandoval, Santa Fe, Sierra, Socorro, Torrance.