Euphorbia spathulata
Warty spurge, Warty Spurge
(c) Matt Lavin, some rights reserved (CC BY) · licence
Family: Euphorbiaceae · Type: Herb · Native
Euphorbia spathulata (Warty spurge) is a native California herb in the Euphorbiaceae family, recognized by warty fruits diagnostic.
Warty spurge is a California native annual found in the California Floristic Province in open, generally disturbed places at elevations below 1,300 meters. Flowering from March to June, this plant produces small flowers in clusters with leaf-like bracts. Growing with glabrous stems 5 to 45 centimeters tall, it has distinctive obovate to spoon-shaped leaves with finely toothed edges. Its leaves are arranged alternately on the lower stem, with the uppermost leaves forming a distinctive whorl of three. The fruit is a small, spherical, lobed structure with tubercles, particularly near the tip.
Identification and appearance
Key characters: 28 sympatric species; warty fruits diagnostic
Habitat and range
Habitat: Open, generally disturbed places
Elevation: < 1300 m
California counties: San Luis Obispo, Kern, Butte, Fresno, Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, Lake, Napa, Siskiyou, San Mateo, Calaveras, San Francisco, Placer, Ventura, Lassen, Monterey, Yolo, Santa Barbara, Sutter, Santa Clara, Tehama, San Benito, Tulare, Modoc, Sonoma, Colusa, El Dorado, Sacramento, Amador, Contra Costa, Nevada, San Joaquin, Merced, Yuba, Glenn, Mendocino, Solano, Santa Cruz, Humboldt, Alameda, Trinity, Mono, Stanislaus, Shasta
Outside California: to Washington, eastern North America, South America
Bloom period
Euphorbia spathulata blooms Mar-Jun.
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 spathulata native to California?
Yes. Euphorbia spathulata is native to California (recorded as native).
When does Euphorbia spathulata bloom?
Euphorbia spathulata blooms Mar-Jun.
Where in California does Euphorbia spathulata grow?
Euphorbia spathulata occurs in San Luis Obispo, Kern, Butte, Fresno, Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Riverside and other counties, at elevations of < 1300 m.
What plant family does Euphorbia spathulata belong to?
Euphorbia spathulata is in the Euphorbiaceae family, genus Euphorbia.
What habitat does Euphorbia spathulata grow in?
Euphorbia spathulata grows in Open, generally disturbed places.
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.