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mole plant, gopher plant, caper spurge

Habit Glabrous and glaucous annual, the stems erect, fleshy, dichotomously branched, 3-10 dm. tall.
Leaves

Leaves opposite, numerous, narrowly oblong, 6-12 cm. long and sessile near the stem base;

leaves broadened upward on the stem, becoming ovate.

Flowers

Flowers tiny, monoecious, borne in axillary involucres; staminate flowers numerous, naked, each consisting of a single stamen; pistillate flower single and terminal in the involucre;

involucre about 3 mm. long, purplish, bearing 4 glands with short, rounded horns.

Fruits

Capsule globose, coarsely wrinkled, 5-10 mm. long, separating into three 1-seeded segments.

Euphorbia lathyris

Flowering time April-May
Habitat Disturbed soil and wasteland.
Distribution
Occurring chiefly west of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California east to Idaho, Montana, Arizona, and Texas; widely distributed in eastern North America.
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Origin Introduced from Eurasia
Conservation status Not of concern
Sibling taxa
E. agraria, E. amygdaloides, E. characias, E. cyparissias, E. epithymoides, E. glyptosperma, E. helioscopia, E. maculata, E. myrsinites, E. oblongata, E. peplus, E. platyphyllos, E. segetalis, E. serpillifolia, E. serrulata, E. spathulata, E. virgata
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