FNA: Euphorbia helioscopia vs. Euphorbia misera

	Euphorbia helioscopia	Euphorbia misera
	euphorbe réveille-matin, mad woman's milk, summer spurge, sun spurge, wart spurge, wartweed	cliff spurge
Habit	Herbs, annual, with taproot.	Shrubs, soft wooded, with woody rootstock.
Stems	erect, unbranched or branched, 5–45 cm, usually glabrous or sparsely pilose.	erect to ascending, often gnarled and scraggly, branched, with conspicuous knobby short shoots, 70–150 cm, puberulent-tomentose, bark grayish red to light gray.
Leaves	petiole absent or to 0.5 mm; blade obovate-spatulate, 4–40 × 2–25 mm, base cuneate, attenuate, or auriculate, margins serrulate, apex rounded, surfaces glabrous; venation pinnate, midvein prominent.	alternate, well spaced on long shoots or fasciculate on short shoots; stipules 0.6–1.1 mm; petiole 4–12(–19) mm, slender, puberulent to shortly pilose; blade oblong, ovate, orbiculate, elliptic, or obovate, 6–24 × 5–21 mm, base rounded to cuneate, margins entire, apex acute to obtuse, surfaces puberulent-tomentose; venation conspicuous.
Involucre	cupulate, 1.5–2 × 0.7–1.1 mm, glabrous; glands 4, elliptic, 0.2–0.5 × 0.5–1 mm; horns absent.	campanulate, 1.4–3.8 × 2.1–4.4 mm, puberulent-tomentose; glands 5, yellow to reddish, oblong to reniform, 0.7–1.3 × 1.1–2.6 mm; appendages green-yellow to yellowish or whitish, oblong to transversely oblong, 0.6–1.9 × 1.3–3.8 mm, crenulate to erose.
Staminate flowers	10–15.	40–50.
Pistillate flowers	ovary glabrous; styles 0.7–1 mm, 2-fid.	ovary glabrous or puberulent; styles 1.6–2.7 mm, 2-fid at apex.
Capsules	depressed-globose, 2.5–4 × 3.2–4.2 mm, clearly 3-lobed; cocci rounded, smooth, glabrous; columella 0.9–1.1 mm.	oblate, 4.6–5.1 × 6.1–6.7 mm, usually glabrous or glabrescent, occasionally puberulent; columella 2.8–3.6 mm.
Seeds	dark brown to blackish, subovoid, 1.6–2.2 × 1.5–1.9 mm, reticulate; caruncle elliptic, 0.9–1.1 × 0.4–0.5 mm.	grayish, subglobose to ovoid, rounded in cross section, 2.7–3.3 × 2.5–2.8 mm, foveolate; caruncle absent.
Cyathial	arrangement: terminal pleiochasial branches (3–)5, each 1–2 times 2-branched; pleiochasial bracts obovate, wider than distal leaves; dichasial bracts distinct, obovate or rhombic, ± oblique, base rounded, truncate, or attenuate, margins serrulate, apex rounded; axillary cymose branches 0.
Cyathia	peduncle 0.2–1 mm.	usually solitary on short shoots, peduncle 1.8–10.5 mm, puberulent-tomentose.

	Euphorbia helioscopia	Euphorbia misera
Phenology	Flowering and fruiting spring–fall.	Flowering and fruiting year-round (but most prolific after winter rains).
Habitat	Roadsides, waste places.	Rocky soils, sometimes in crevices of vertical cliff faces, coastal scrub, maritime desert scrub, arid desert scrub.
Elevation	0–1400 m. (0–4600 ft.)	0–400 m. (0–1300 ft.)
Distribution	CA; CT; DC; DE; GA; ID; IL; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MT; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OR; PA; SC; TN; TX; VA; VT; WA; WI; WY; AB; BC; NB; NF; NS; ON; PE; QC; SK; Europe; Asia; n Africa [Introduced in North America; introduced also in South America (Argentina, Chile)] [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	CA; Mexico (Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora) [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Discussion	Euphorbia helioscopia was collected once in Minnesota in the late 1800s but apparently did not become established there. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)	Euphorbia misera is relatively infrequent within the flora area, known primarily from coastal southern California and the Channel Islands (although a relictual inland population occurs in the Little San Bernardino Mountains). The species has been considered worthy of conservation, but appears to be under little threat, especially in Mexico where it is frequent and often locally abundant. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source	FNA vol. 12, p. 303.	FNA vol. 12, p. 249.
Parent taxa	Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula	Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Alectoroctonum
Sibling taxa	E. aaron-rossii, E. abramsiana, E. acuta, E. agraria, E. albomarginata, E. alta, E. angusta, E. antisyphilitica, E. arizonica, E. astyla, E. austrotexana, E. bicolor, E. bifurcata, E. bilobata, E. blodgettii, E. bombensis, E. brachycera, E. capitellata, E. carunculata, E. chaetocalyx, E. chamaesula, E. cinerascens, E. commutata, E. conferta, E. cordifolia, E. corollata, E. crenulata, E. cumulicola, E. cuphosperma, E. curtisii, E. cyathophora, E. cyparissias, E. davidii, E. deltoidea, E. dendroides, E. dentata, E. discoidalis, E. eriantha, E. exigua, E. exserta, E. exstipulata, E. falcata, E. fendleri, E. florida, E. floridana, E. garberi, E. georgiana, E. geyeri, E. glyptosperma, E. golondrina, E. gracillima, E. graminea, E. helleri, E. heterophylla, E. hexagona, E. hirta, E. hooveri, E. humistrata, E. hypericifolia, E. hyssopifolia, E. indivisa, E. innocua, E. inundata, E. ipecacuanhae, E. jaegeri, E. jejuna, E. laredana, E. lasiocarpa, E. lata, E. lathyris, E. longicruris, E. lurida, E. macropus, E. maculata, E. marginata, E. meganaesos, E. melanadenia, E. mendezii, E. mercurialina, E. mesembrianthemifolia, E. micromera, E. misera, E. missurica, E. myrsinites, E. nephradenia, E. nutans, E. oblongata, E. ocellata, E. ophthalmica, E. ouachitana, E. parishii, E. parryi, E. pediculifera, E. peplidion, E. peplus, E. perennans, E. pergamena, E. pinetorum, E. platyphyllos, E. platysperma, E. polycarpa, E. polygonifolia, E. polyphylla, E. porteriana, E. prostrata, E. pubentissima, E. purpurea, E. radians, E. rayturneri, E. revoluta, E. roemeriana, E. rosescens, E. schizoloba, E. serpens, E. serpillifolia, E. serrata, E. serrula, E. setiloba, E. simulans, E. spathulata, E. stictospora, E. strictior, E. telephioides, E. terracina, E. tetrapora, E. texana, E. theriaca, E. thymifolia, E. tithymaloides, E. trachysperma, E. trichotoma, E. vallis-mortae, E. velleriflora, E. vermiculata, E. villifera, E. virgata, E. wrightii, E. yaquiana	E. aaron-rossii, E. abramsiana, E. acuta, E. agraria, E. albomarginata, E. alta, E. angusta, E. antisyphilitica, E. arizonica, E. astyla, E. austrotexana, E. bicolor, E. bifurcata, E. bilobata, E. blodgettii, E. bombensis, E. brachycera, E. capitellata, E. carunculata, E. chaetocalyx, E. chamaesula, E. cinerascens, E. commutata, E. conferta, E. cordifolia, E. corollata, E. crenulata, E. cumulicola, E. cuphosperma, E. curtisii, E. cyathophora, E. cyparissias, E. davidii, E. deltoidea, E. dendroides, E. dentata, E. discoidalis, E. eriantha, E. exigua, E. exserta, E. exstipulata, E. falcata, E. fendleri, E. florida, E. floridana, E. garberi, E. georgiana, E. geyeri, E. glyptosperma, E. golondrina, E. gracillima, E. graminea, E. helioscopia, E. helleri, E. heterophylla, E. hexagona, E. hirta, E. hooveri, E. humistrata, E. hypericifolia, E. hyssopifolia, E. indivisa, E. innocua, E. inundata, E. ipecacuanhae, E. jaegeri, E. jejuna, E. laredana, E. lasiocarpa, E. lata, E. lathyris, E. longicruris, E. lurida, E. macropus, E. maculata, E. marginata, E. meganaesos, E. melanadenia, E. mendezii, E. mercurialina, E. mesembrianthemifolia, E. micromera, E. missurica, E. myrsinites, E. nephradenia, E. nutans, E. oblongata, E. ocellata, E. ophthalmica, E. ouachitana, E. parishii, E. parryi, E. pediculifera, E. peplidion, E. peplus, E. perennans, E. pergamena, E. pinetorum, E. platyphyllos, E. platysperma, E. polycarpa, E. polygonifolia, E. polyphylla, E. porteriana, E. prostrata, E. pubentissima, E. purpurea, E. radians, E. rayturneri, E. revoluta, E. roemeriana, E. rosescens, E. schizoloba, E. serpens, E. serpillifolia, E. serrata, E. serrula, E. setiloba, E. simulans, E. spathulata, E. stictospora, E. strictior, E. telephioides, E. terracina, E. tetrapora, E. texana, E. theriaca, E. thymifolia, E. tithymaloides, E. trachysperma, E. trichotoma, E. vallis-mortae, E. velleriflora, E. vermiculata, E. villifera, E. virgata, E. wrightii, E. yaquiana
Synonyms	Galarhoeus helioscopius, Tithymalus helioscopius
Name authority	Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 459. (1753)	Bentham: Bot. Voy. Sulphur, 51. (1844)
Web links	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, Go Botany, IL Wildflowers, LA Plants, MD Biodiversity, MI Flora, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search	Local floras: CA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Euphorbia misera

euphorbe réveille-matin, mad woman's milk, summer spurge, sun spurge, wart spurge, wartweed

cliff spurge

Habit

Herbs, annual, with taproot.

Shrubs, soft wooded, with woody rootstock.

Stems

erect, unbranched or branched, 5–45 cm, usually glabrous or sparsely pilose.

erect to ascending, often gnarled and scraggly, branched, with conspicuous knobby short shoots, 70–150 cm, puberulent-tomentose, bark grayish red to light gray.

Leaves

petiole absent or to 0.5 mm;

blade obovate-spatulate, 4–40 × 2–25 mm, base cuneate, attenuate, or auriculate, margins serrulate, apex rounded, surfaces glabrous;

venation pinnate, midvein prominent.

alternate, well spaced on long shoots or fasciculate on short shoots;

stipules 0.6–1.1 mm;

petiole 4–12(–19) mm, slender, puberulent to shortly pilose;

blade oblong, ovate, orbiculate, elliptic, or obovate, 6–24 × 5–21 mm, base rounded to cuneate, margins entire, apex acute to obtuse, surfaces puberulent-tomentose;

venation conspicuous.

Involucre

cupulate, 1.5–2 × 0.7–1.1 mm, glabrous;

glands 4, elliptic, 0.2–0.5 × 0.5–1 mm;

horns absent.

campanulate, 1.4–3.8 × 2.1–4.4 mm, puberulent-tomentose;

glands 5, yellow to reddish, oblong to reniform, 0.7–1.3 × 1.1–2.6 mm;

appendages green-yellow to yellowish or whitish, oblong to transversely oblong, 0.6–1.9 × 1.3–3.8 mm, crenulate to erose.

Staminate flowers

10–15.

40–50.

Pistillate flowers

ovary glabrous;

styles 0.7–1 mm, 2-fid.

ovary glabrous or puberulent;

styles 1.6–2.7 mm, 2-fid at apex.

Capsules

depressed-globose, 2.5–4 × 3.2–4.2 mm, clearly 3-lobed;

cocci rounded, smooth, glabrous;

columella 0.9–1.1 mm.

oblate, 4.6–5.1 × 6.1–6.7 mm, usually glabrous or glabrescent, occasionally puberulent;

columella 2.8–3.6 mm.

Seeds

dark brown to blackish, subovoid, 1.6–2.2 × 1.5–1.9 mm, reticulate;

caruncle elliptic, 0.9–1.1 × 0.4–0.5 mm.

grayish, subglobose to ovoid, rounded in cross section, 2.7–3.3 × 2.5–2.8 mm, foveolate;

caruncle absent.

Cyathial

arrangement: terminal pleiochasial branches (3–)5, each 1–2 times 2-branched;

pleiochasial bracts obovate, wider than distal leaves;

dichasial bracts distinct, obovate or rhombic, ± oblique, base rounded, truncate, or attenuate, margins serrulate, apex rounded;

axillary cymose branches 0.

Cyathia

peduncle 0.2–1 mm.

usually solitary on short shoots, peduncle 1.8–10.5 mm, puberulent-tomentose.

Euphorbia misera

Phenology

Flowering and fruiting spring–fall.

Flowering and fruiting year-round (but most prolific after winter rains).

Habitat

Roadsides, waste places.

Rocky soils, sometimes in crevices of vertical cliff faces, coastal scrub, maritime desert scrub, arid desert scrub.

Elevation

0–1400 m. (0–4600 ft.)

0–400 m. (0–1300 ft.)

Distribution

CA; CT; DC; DE; GA; ID; IL; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MT; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OR; PA; SC; TN; TX; VA; VT; WA; WI; WY; AB; BC; NB; NF; NS; ON; PE; QC; SK; Europe; Asia; n Africa [Introduced in North America; introduced also in South America (Argentina, Chile)]

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

CA; Mexico (Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora)

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Discussion

Euphorbia helioscopia was collected once in Minnesota in the late 1800s but apparently did not become established there.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Euphorbia misera is relatively infrequent within the flora area, known primarily from coastal southern California and the Channel Islands (although a relictual inland population occurs in the Little San Bernardino Mountains). The species has been considered worthy of conservation, but appears to be under little threat, especially in Mexico where it is frequent and often locally abundant.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source

FNA vol. 12, p. 303.

FNA vol. 12, p. 249.

Parent taxa

Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula

Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Alectoroctonum

Sibling taxa

E. aaron-rossii, E. abramsiana, E. acuta, E. agraria, E. albomarginata, E. alta, E. angusta, E. antisyphilitica, E. arizonica, E. astyla, E. austrotexana, E. bicolor, E. bifurcata, E. bilobata, E. blodgettii, E. bombensis, E. brachycera, E. capitellata, E. carunculata, E. chaetocalyx, E. chamaesula, E. cinerascens, E. commutata, E. conferta, E. cordifolia, E. corollata, E. crenulata, E. cumulicola, E. cuphosperma, E. curtisii, E. cyathophora, E. cyparissias, E. davidii, E. deltoidea, E. dendroides, E. dentata, E. discoidalis, E. eriantha, E. exigua, E. exserta, E. exstipulata, E. falcata, E. fendleri, E. florida, E. floridana, E. garberi, E. georgiana, E. geyeri, E. glyptosperma, E. golondrina, E. gracillima, E. graminea, E. helleri, E. heterophylla, E. hexagona, E. hirta, E. hooveri, E. humistrata, E. hypericifolia, E. hyssopifolia, E. indivisa, E. innocua, E. inundata, E. ipecacuanhae, E. jaegeri, E. jejuna, E. laredana, E. lasiocarpa, E. lata, E. lathyris, E. longicruris, E. lurida, E. macropus, E. maculata, E. marginata, E. meganaesos, E. melanadenia, E. mendezii, E. mercurialina, E. mesembrianthemifolia, E. micromera, E. misera, E. missurica, E. myrsinites, E. nephradenia, E. nutans, E. oblongata, E. ocellata, E. ophthalmica, E. ouachitana, E. parishii, E. parryi, E. pediculifera, E. peplidion, E. peplus, E. perennans, E. pergamena, E. pinetorum, E. platyphyllos, E. platysperma, E. polycarpa, E. polygonifolia, E. polyphylla, E. porteriana, E. prostrata, E. pubentissima, E. purpurea, E. radians, E. rayturneri, E. revoluta, E. roemeriana, E. rosescens, E. schizoloba, E. serpens, E. serpillifolia, E. serrata, E. serrula, E. setiloba, E. simulans, E. spathulata, E. stictospora, E. strictior, E. telephioides, E. terracina, E. tetrapora, E. texana, E. theriaca, E. thymifolia, E. tithymaloides, E. trachysperma, E. trichotoma, E. vallis-mortae, E. velleriflora, E. vermiculata, E. villifera, E. virgata, E. wrightii, E. yaquiana

E. aaron-rossii, E. abramsiana, E. acuta, E. agraria, E. albomarginata, E. alta, E. angusta, E. antisyphilitica, E. arizonica, E. astyla, E. austrotexana, E. bicolor, E. bifurcata, E. bilobata, E. blodgettii, E. bombensis, E. brachycera, E. capitellata, E. carunculata, E. chaetocalyx, E. chamaesula, E. cinerascens, E. commutata, E. conferta, E. cordifolia, E. corollata, E. crenulata, E. cumulicola, E. cuphosperma, E. curtisii, E. cyathophora, E. cyparissias, E. davidii, E. deltoidea, E. dendroides, E. dentata, E. discoidalis, E. eriantha, E. exigua, E. exserta, E. exstipulata, E. falcata, E. fendleri, E. florida, E. floridana, E. garberi, E. georgiana, E. geyeri, E. glyptosperma, E. golondrina, E. gracillima, E. graminea, E. helioscopia, E. helleri, E. heterophylla, E. hexagona, E. hirta, E. hooveri, E. humistrata, E. hypericifolia, E. hyssopifolia, E. indivisa, E. innocua, E. inundata, E. ipecacuanhae, E. jaegeri, E. jejuna, E. laredana, E. lasiocarpa, E. lata, E. lathyris, E. longicruris, E. lurida, E. macropus, E. maculata, E. marginata, E. meganaesos, E. melanadenia, E. mendezii, E. mercurialina, E. mesembrianthemifolia, E. micromera, E. missurica, E. myrsinites, E. nephradenia, E. nutans, E. oblongata, E. ocellata, E. ophthalmica, E. ouachitana, E. parishii, E. parryi, E. pediculifera, E. peplidion, E. peplus, E. perennans, E. pergamena, E. pinetorum, E. platyphyllos, E. platysperma, E. polycarpa, E. polygonifolia, E. polyphylla, E. porteriana, E. prostrata, E. pubentissima, E. purpurea, E. radians, E. rayturneri, E. revoluta, E. roemeriana, E. rosescens, E. schizoloba, E. serpens, E. serpillifolia, E. serrata, E. serrula, E. setiloba, E. simulans, E. spathulata, E. stictospora, E. strictior, E. telephioides, E. terracina, E. tetrapora, E. texana, E. theriaca, E. thymifolia, E. tithymaloides, E. trachysperma, E. trichotoma, E. vallis-mortae, E. velleriflora, E. vermiculata, E. villifera, E. virgata, E. wrightii, E. yaquiana

Synonyms

Galarhoeus helioscopius, Tithymalus helioscopius

Name authority

Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 459. (1753)

Bentham: Bot. Voy. Sulphur, 51. (1844)

Web links

Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA
Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, Go Botany, IL Wildflowers, LA Plants, MD Biodiversity, MI Flora, PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database
LBJ Wildflower Center
SEINet
Plants of the World Online
Encyclopedia of Life
Wikipedia
Google Image Search

Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).

Choose a data source: Flora of North America, OregonFlora, UW Burke Herbarium

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Euphorbia helioscopia

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Euphorbia misera