Euphorbia hooveri

Hoover's spurge, Hoover's Spurge

Family: Euphorbiaceae · Type: annual · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.2 · Threatened

Hoover's spurge is a rare (CNPS 1B.2) California native annual found in the Great Valley bioregion in Butte, Tehama, and Tulare counties within vernal pool habitats at elevations below 250 meters. Flowering from July to September, this plant produces small white petal-like appendages surrounding delicate cyathia with round glands. Growing with prostrate to decumbent stems that repeatedly fork and spread in a two-faced pattern, it reaches a low, spreading form across the ground. Its opposite leaves are tiny, approximately 2 to 5 millimeters long, rounded with asymmetric bases and minutely spiny-edged, creating a delicate texture. The fruit is a small spheric, lobed structure approximately 1.5 to 2 millimeters long, producing white, widely four-angled seeds.

Habitat: Vernal pools

Bloom period: Jul-Sep

Elevation: < 250 m

Bioregions: GV (Butte, Tehama, Tulare cos.).

California counties: Tulare, Stanislaus, Tehama, Butte

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