Euphorbia polycarpa

Smallseed sandmat, Smallseed Sandmat

Family: Euphorbiaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Smallseed sandmat is a California native perennial found in southwestern deserts and desert regions on dry, sandy slopes and flats at elevations below 1,000 meters. Flowering throughout the year, this plant produces white to red petal-like appendages surrounding tiny reddish to black glands in small cyathia clusters. Growing with prostrate to ascending stems that repeatedly fork and spread in a two-faced pattern, it forms low-growing patches across sandy terrain. Its opposite leaves are small, measuring 1 to 10 millimeters long, with round to ovate blades that have asymmetric bases and acute to obtuse tips. The fruit is a small, spherical, lobed structure producing white to light brown seeds that are ovoid and four-angled.

Habitat: Common. Dry, sandy slopes and flats

Bloom period: All year

Elevation: < 1000 m

Bioregions: SW, D

California counties: San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Orange, Imperial, Inyo, Ventura, Sonoma, Kern

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