Euphorbia jaegeri
Orocopia mountains spurge, Orocopia Mountains Spurge
(c) Melanie J. Davis, some rights reserved (CC BY) · licence
Family: Euphorbiaceae · Type: Shrub · Native
Conservation status: CNPS 1B.1
Euphorbia jaegeri (Orocopia mountains spurge) is a native California shrub in the Euphorbiaceae family, recognized by shrub habit and deeply divided appendages diagnostic.
Orocopia mountains spurge is a rare (CNPS 1B.1) California native shrub found in the Bristol and Marble Mountains in the desert mountains, and Orocopia Mountains in the desert south, at elevations of 600 to 850 meters. Flowering all year, this plant produces white to pink petal-like appendages with small cyathia arranged at each node. Growing 10 to 25 centimeters tall with ascending to erect stems that repeatedly fork and have a distinctive two-faced appearance, the plant has a diffusely branched structure. Its opposite leaves are subsessile, elliptic to ovate, 3.7 to 10.1 millimeters long with rounded to obtuse tips and symmetric or slightly asymmetric bases. The fruit is a small, lobed, puberulent subspheric structure approximately 1.7 to 2.3 millimeters long.
Identification and appearance
Key characters: 23 sympatric species; shrub habit and deeply divided appendages diagnostic
Habitat and range
Habitat: Uncommon. Generally rock crevices or gravel in dry rocky hillsides, arroyos in desert scrub
Elevation: +- 600-850 m.
California counties: Riverside, San Bernardino
Bloom period
Euphorbia jaegeri blooms All year.
Conservation status
CNPS 1B.1
How to tell it apart
vs Croton: Euphorbia bleeds milky white latex and packs its flowers into a tiny cup (cyathium) rimmed with nectar glands; Croton has watery sap, stellate or scaly hairs, and ordinary small separate male and female flowers.; vs Stillingia: Euphorbia flowers sit in a gland-bearing cyathium; Stillingia bears its flowers in a spike with a pair of glands flanking each subtending bract and has no cyathium cup.; vs Ditaxis: Euphorbia has latex and the cyathium; Ditaxis has clear sap, 5-parted petaled male and female flowers, and 2-forked (malpighiaceous) hairs.; vs Asclepias: Both ooze milky sap, but Euphorbia's minute flowers cluster in a cyathium and ripen into a 3-lobed capsule; milkweeds have showy 5-parted flowers with a crown and paired follicles of plumed seeds.; vs Polygonum: Prostrate mat spurges leak milky sap when torn and have paired stipules with opposite leaves at the nodes; knotweeds have clear sap and a papery sheath (ocrea) wrapping each node.
Frequently asked questions
Is Euphorbia jaegeri native to California?
Yes. Euphorbia jaegeri is native to California (recorded as native).
When does Euphorbia jaegeri bloom?
Euphorbia jaegeri blooms All year.
Where in California does Euphorbia jaegeri grow?
Euphorbia jaegeri occurs in Riverside, San Bernardino, at elevations of +- 600-850 m..
What plant family does Euphorbia jaegeri belong to?
Euphorbia jaegeri is in the Euphorbiaceae family, genus Euphorbia.
Is Euphorbia jaegeri rare or endangered?
Euphorbia jaegeri carries California Rare Plant Rank 1B.1, state rank S1.
Related species
Other California species in the same genus, family, or bioregion.
Sources: Jepson eFlora · CNPS Rare Plant Inventory · Index of California Plant Names · CalPhotos · CDFW CNDDB
Last updated 2026-09-30
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Cal-IPC, and more.