Euphorbia micromera

Sonoran sandmat, Sonoran Sandmat

Family: Euphorbiaceae · Type: annual · Native

Sonoran sandmat is a California native annual found in the Colorado Desert in sandy places at elevations below 1,000 meters. Flowering from April to June and September to December, this plant produces small, inconspicuous flowers with distinctive red or pink glands. Growing with prostrate stems that repeatedly fork and spread in a two-faced pattern, it forms low-growing mats across sandy terrain. Its opposite leaves are small, measuring 1 to 7 millimeters long, with asymmetric bases and ovate to oblong shapes. The tiny spherical fruits are less than 1.5 millimeters long, containing smooth to slightly wrinkled seeds that range from white to brown.

Habitat: Sandy places

Bloom period: Apr-Jun, Sep--Dec

Elevation: < 1000 m

Bioregions: D

California counties: San Bernardino, Imperial, Riverside, Kern, Inyo, San Diego, Tuolumne

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