Mercurialis annua

Annual mercury

Family: Euphorbiaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Annual mercury is a naturalized annual found in the San Francisco Bay Area in open, disturbed areas at elevations below 200 meters. Flowering from February to October, this plant produces small, inconspicuous flowers with green staminate and pistillate clusters. Growing with slender stems 10 to 30 centimeters tall, it spreads quickly in disturbed landscapes. Its leaves are ovate, 2 to 5 centimeters long, with serrated edges and ciliate margins, attached to short petioles. The fruit is small, approximately 2 to 3 millimeters in diameter, with shiny, pitted seeds.

Habitat: Open, disturbed areas

Bloom period: Feb-Oct

Elevation: < 200 m

Bioregions: SnFrB

California counties: San Mateo, Alameda, Riverside, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Yolo, Marin, San Luis Obispo, Santa Clara

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