Euphorbia nutans
Eyebane spurge, Eyebane Spurge
(c) Mahomed Desai, some rights reserved (CC BY) · licence
Family: Euphorbiaceae · Type: Herb · Not Native
Euphorbia nutans (Eyebane spurge) is a non-native California herb in the Euphorbiaceae family, recognized by clustered cyathia and large leaves diagnostic.
Eyebane spurge is a naturalized annual found in the Great Valley, central Coast, southwestern California, and desert regions in disturbed areas at elevations below 300 meters. Flowering from April to October, this plant produces white to red petal-like appendages in small cyathia clustered along its stems. Growing with repeatedly forking stems 10 to 40 centimeters tall that become less hairy with age, it has a distinctive two-faced branching pattern. Its opposite leaves are subsessile, oblong, 8 to 35 millimeters long, with finely toothed edges and slightly asymmetric bases. The fruit is a small 2 to 2.5 millimeter ovoid structure bearing black to brown seeds with shallow wrinkles.
Identification and appearance
Key characters: 36 sympatric species; clustered cyathia and large leaves diagnostic
Habitat and range
Habitat: Disturbed areas
Elevation: < 300 m
California counties: El Dorado, San Bernardino, Shasta, Inyo, Santa Barbara, Riverside, Butte, Placer, Sacramento, Amador, Sutter, Los Angeles, Orange, Yolo, Sonoma, Trinity, San Joaquin, Tehama, Nevada
Outside California: native to southeastern United States, South America
Bloom period
Euphorbia nutans 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 nutans native to California?
No. Euphorbia nutans is not native to California (recorded as not native).
When does Euphorbia nutans bloom?
Euphorbia nutans blooms Apr-Oct.
Where in California does Euphorbia nutans grow?
Euphorbia nutans occurs in El Dorado, San Bernardino, Shasta, Inyo, Santa Barbara, Riverside, Butte, Placer and other counties, at elevations of < 300 m.
What plant family does Euphorbia nutans belong to?
Euphorbia nutans is in the Euphorbiaceae family, genus Euphorbia.
What habitat does Euphorbia nutans grow in?
Euphorbia nutans grows in Disturbed areas.
Related species
Other California species in the same genus, family, or bioregion.
Sources: Jepson eFlora · CalPhotos
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.