Euphorbia misera
Cliff spurge
Photo by Chez Brungraber
Family: Euphorbiaceae · Type: Shrub · Native
Conservation status: CNPS 2B.2
Euphorbia misera (Cliff spurge) is a native California shrub in the Euphorbiaceae family, recognized by shrub habit and coastal habitat diagnostic.
Cliff spurge is a rare California native shrub ranked 2B.2 by CNPS, found in southern California coastal regions including the southern Channel Islands and western desert areas at elevations below 500 meters on rocky slopes and coastal bluffs. Flowering from January to August, this plant produces distinctive white petal-like appendages surrounding small red glands in cyathia at branch tips. Growing 5 to 10 decimeters tall with puberulent stems that become glabrous with age, the shrub develops alternate leaves with delicate thread-like, fringed stipules. Its leaves are small and distinctive, measuring 0.4 to 1.5 centimeters long, ovate to round, with rounded tips and slightly folded blades. The fruit is a spheric, lobed structure 4 to 5 millimeters long, bearing wrinkled white to gray seeds with a small knob.
Identification and appearance
Key characters: 29 sympatric species; shrub habit and coastal habitat diagnostic
Habitat and range
Habitat: Rocky slopes, coastal bluffs
Elevation: < 500 m
California counties: Orange, Los Angeles, San Diego, Riverside, Santa Barbara
Outside California: Baja California
Bloom period
Euphorbia misera blooms Jan-Aug.
Conservation status
CNPS 2B.2
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 misera native to California?
Yes. Euphorbia misera is native to California (recorded as native).
When does Euphorbia misera bloom?
Euphorbia misera blooms Jan-Aug.
Where in California does Euphorbia misera grow?
Euphorbia misera occurs in Orange, Los Angeles, San Diego, Riverside, Santa Barbara, at elevations of < 500 m.
What plant family does Euphorbia misera belong to?
Euphorbia misera is in the Euphorbiaceae family, genus Euphorbia.
Is Euphorbia misera rare or endangered?
Euphorbia misera carries California Rare Plant Rank 2B.2, state rank S2.
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 2026-10-07
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Cal-IPC, and more.