Sonoran Sandmat
Chamaesyce micromera
This specimen was found blooming in Vekol Valley, Maricopa County, Arizona, USA on 10 Aug. 2008.
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ANNUAL: Prostrate herb growing during warm season after rains. Specimens may spread out along the soil up to
50 cm.
RANGE: Found along washes and sandy desert flats after warm season rains. Common along with several other similar species of Chamaesyce. Ranges from California to Texas.
LEAVES: The leaves are opposite, elyptic and mostly smooth on the margins. Color may be reddish-green, especially after drought or cold.
FLOWERS: The glands around the involucre do not have appendages or are very small. The glands, however, are rather large and red. A plant with many flowers appears red-green. What at first appears to be a minute flower barely a mm in diameter is actually an involucre enclosing a number of male
staminate flowers and one pistillate female flower. The surrounding glands form the rim of the bell-shaped involucre.
FRUIT: Capsules are small and usu. beset with minute hairs (magnification needed).
2 mm.
UNARMED: No thorns, but the milky sap can be a skin/eye irritant.