Euphorbia eriantha

Beetle spurge

Family: Euphorbiaceae · Type: annual · Native

Beetle spurge is a California native annual found in the southern desert region in rocky canyons and slopes at elevations below 1,000 meters. Flowering from March to April, this plant produces small, clustered cyathia at branch tips with densely puberulent involucres. Growing with erect stems 10 to 50 centimeters tall, the plant has ascending branches that are glabrous or sparsely hairy. Its leaves are linear, 2 to 7 centimeters long, alternately arranged with acute or obtuse tips, and sometimes minutely toothed toward the branch ends. The plant produces small oblong fruits 4 to 5 millimeters long, bearing distinctive 4-angled seeds with tubercled surfaces.

Habitat: Canyons, rocky slopes

Bloom period: Mar-Apr

Elevation: < 1000 m

Bioregions: DSon

California counties: Riverside, San Bernardino, Imperial, San Diego

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.