Euphorbia serpens
Matted sandmat, Matted Sandmat
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Family: Euphorbiaceae · Type: Herb · Native
Euphorbia serpens (Matted sandmat) is a native California herb in the Euphorbiaceae family, recognized by fused stipules and rooting at nodes distinctive.
Matted sandmat is a naturalized annual herb found in the southern San Joaquin Valley, central Coast Ranges, southern coastal ranges, and southwestern California in disturbed areas at elevations below 750 meters. Flowering from May to September, this plant produces white petal-like appendages surrounding tiny dark red-purple glands in small clusters. Growing with prostrate stems that root at the nodes and repeatedly fork in a two-faced pattern, it spreads across the ground in a low, mat-like form. Its opposite leaves are small, measuring 2 to 7 millimeters long, with ovate to oblong blades that have asymmetric bases and obtuse tips. The fruit is a small spheric, lobed structure less than 1.5 millimeters long, producing white to brown seeds with smooth, four-angled surfaces.
Identification and appearance
Key characters: 23 sympatric species; fused stipules and rooting at nodes distinctive
Habitat and range
Habitat: Disturbed areas
Elevation: < 750 m
California counties: Ventura, Orange, San Bernardino, Imperial, Los Angeles, Riverside, Santa Barbara, Yolo, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Contra Costa, Tulare, Monterey
Outside California: to eastern United States, native to South America
Bloom period
Euphorbia serpens blooms May-Sep.
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 serpens native to California?
Yes. Euphorbia serpens is native to California (recorded as native).
When does Euphorbia serpens bloom?
Euphorbia serpens blooms May-Sep.
Where in California does Euphorbia serpens grow?
Euphorbia serpens occurs in Ventura, Orange, San Bernardino, Imperial, Los Angeles, Riverside, Santa Barbara, Yolo and other counties, at elevations of < 750 m.
What plant family does Euphorbia serpens belong to?
Euphorbia serpens is in the Euphorbiaceae family, genus Euphorbia.
What habitat does Euphorbia serpens grow in?
Euphorbia serpens grows in Disturbed areas.
Related species
Other California species in the same genus, family, or bioregion.
Sources: Jepson eFlora · Index of California Plant Names · CalPhotos
Last updated 2026-10-07
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Cal-IPC, and more.