Cliff Spurge
Euphorbia misera
Many large shrubs of this plant were leafy green and flowering on the granite hill near La Cholla, Sonora, Mexico on 4 March 2012.
SHRUB: A woody shrub which is much bigger than any of the ubiquitous
prostrate spurges in the Sonoran Desert. At Puerto Peñasco many shrubs
were well over a meter tall.
LEAVES: Broad, elyptic leaves are dark green but can be shed completely
if drought conditions exist. There are thread-like stipules where leaf petioles
attach to stem.
RANGE: This plant is found in Sonora and southern California and is
absent from Arizona.
FRUIT: Dry three-seeded capsule much larger than most other euphorbias
in the Sonoran Desert.
FLOWERS: The cup-shaped involucre has five glands with petal-like
appendages. Usually one female flower producing fruit and a number of male
flowers each of one stamen. A larger, detailed picture of the flower has been
shared on
Flickr.
UNARMED. No thorns or spines, but sap can be irritating to some people.