Euphorbia maculata
Spotted spurge, Spotted Spurge
(c) Douglas Goldman, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), uploaded by Douglas Goldman · licence
Family: Euphorbiaceae · Type: Annual · Not Native
Euphorbia maculata (Spotted spurge) is a non-native California annual in the Euphorbiaceae family, recognized by leaf spots and small size diagnostic.
Spotted spurge is a naturalized annual found in California's Central Valley and desert regions in disturbed places at elevations below 2,000 meters. Flowering from April to October, this plant produces tiny white to pink flowers in small clustered cyathia with scalloped appendages. Growing with prostrate stems that repeatedly fork and spread horizontally, it develops branches that are two-faced and softly hairy. Its opposite leaves are ovate to oblong, 4 to 17 millimeters long, often marked with a distinctive reddish spot and featuring fine teeth along the edges. The plant produces small, lobed fruits less than 1.5 millimeters long, with light brown seeds that have transverse wrinkles.
Identification and appearance
Key characters: 38 sympatric species; leaf spots and small size diagnostic
Habitat and range
Habitat: Disturbed places
Elevation: < 2000 m
California counties: Shasta, Butte, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Trinity, San Bernardino, Orange, San Luis Obispo, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Kern, Glenn, Placer, Sacramento, Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Marin, San Francisco, Tehama, Contra Costa, Napa, Alameda, Siskiyou, San Mateo, Tulare, Inyo, Merced, Yolo, San Joaquin, Mendocino, Madera, Nevada, Monterey
Outside California: native to eastern United States
Bloom period
Euphorbia maculata blooms Apr-Oct.
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 maculata native to California?
No. Euphorbia maculata is not native to California (recorded as not native).
When does Euphorbia maculata bloom?
Euphorbia maculata blooms Apr-Oct.
Where in California does Euphorbia maculata grow?
Euphorbia maculata occurs in Shasta, Butte, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Trinity, San Bernardino, Orange and other counties, at elevations of < 2000 m.
What plant family does Euphorbia maculata belong to?
Euphorbia maculata is in the Euphorbiaceae family, genus Euphorbia.
What habitat does Euphorbia maculata grow in?
Euphorbia maculata grows in Disturbed places.
Related species
Other California species in the same genus, family, or bioregion.
Sources: Jepson eFlora · Index of California Plant Names · CalPhotos
Last updated 2026-10-06
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Cal-IPC, and more.