Euphorbia cyparissias L.

Cypress Spurge; Graveyard Spurge

Herb

Perennial

Vascular

Graveyard Spurge is an introduced herbaceous perennial in the Spurge family (Euphorbiaceae). It is native to Europe. In Alabama, it can be found in scattered locations statewide. Graveyard Spurge can be found around old home sites, along roads and railroads, on dunes, and in cemeteries. It is a perennial with a thick, woody rhizome. Lateral rhizomes spread for some distance and end in new plants. Stems are several from a crown, erect, and un-branched. The stems are green in color, glabrous, and have a milky sap. The stems are from 6 to 16 inches in height. Leaves are alternate, sessile, linear to linear-ovate in outline, with entire margins. The leaves are glabrous and only the mid-vein is prominent. The leaves contain a milky sap. Flowers are produced in a terminal umbel-like inflorescence. Flowers lack sepals and petals and are subtended by large showy bracts. The bracts are yellow in color and resemble petals. They turn red in color as they age. The fruit is a capsule. Graveyard Spurge occurs as diploid and tetraploid populations. The diploid plants are the most common, and are sterile and do not produce seed. Graveyard Spurge is sometimes grown as an ornamental. It thrives in poor, dry, or rocky soils. The milky sap is toxic. It is listed as an invasive species or noxious weed in Colorado, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.--A. Diamond

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Not Native

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