Euphorbia virgata
Leafy spurge
Kristian Peters -- Fabelfroh 5 July 2005 18:18 (UTC) (via Wikimedia Commons) · CC BY-SA
Family: Euphorbiaceae · Type: Perennial · Not Native
Conservation status: Cal-IPC Yes
Euphorbia virgata (Leafy spurge) is a non-native California perennial in the Euphorbiaceae family, recognized by tall habit with large crescent-shaped glands and yellow bracts.
Leafy spurge is a naturalized perennial herb found in southern North Coast, eastern Klamath Range, California Range, and North Coast Ranges in fields and pastures at elevations below 1,400 meters. Flowering from May to August, this plant produces small yellow-green flowers in distinctive umbel-like clusters with triangular-ovate bracts. Growing with erect stems 30 to 80 centimeters tall that emerge several from the base, it has a clumping growth habit with glabrous to slightly hairy stems. Its leaves are linear to lance-shaped, 2 to 6 centimeters long, with proximal leaves alternating and the uppermost leaves arranged in whorls. The fruit is a smooth, spherical capsule 3 to 4 millimeters long, containing small gray to tan seeds.
Identification and appearance
Key characters: 9 sympatric species; tall habit with large crescent-shaped glands and yellow bracts
Habitat and range
Habitat: Fields, pastures
Elevation: < 1400 m
Outside California: to eastern United States, native to Europe
Bloom period
Euphorbia virgata blooms May-Aug.
Conservation status
Cal-IPC Yes
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 virgata native to California?
No. Euphorbia virgata is not native to California (recorded as not native).
When does Euphorbia virgata bloom?
Euphorbia virgata blooms May-Aug.
What plant family does Euphorbia virgata belong to?
Euphorbia virgata is in the Euphorbiaceae family, genus Euphorbia.
Is Euphorbia virgata invasive in California?
Euphorbia virgata is listed by Cal-IPC with an invasiveness rating of Yes.
What habitat does Euphorbia virgata grow in?
Euphorbia virgata grows in Fields, pastures.
Related species
Other California species in the same genus, family, or bioregion.
- Euphorbia abramsiana — Abrams' spurge
- Euphorbia albomarginata — Rattlesnake sandmat
- Euphorbia arizonica — Arizona spurge
- Euphorbia crenulata — Chinese caps
- Euphorbia cyathophora — Painted leaf
- Euphorbia davidii — David's poinsettia
- Euphorbiaceae sp. — Spurge family
- Mercurialis annua — Annual mercury
- Mercurialis sp. — Mercury
- Ricinus communis — Castor bean
Sources: Jepson eFlora · CalPhotos
Last updated 2026-09-30
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Cal-IPC, and more.