Euphorbia dentata Michx.

Toothed Spurge; Toothleaf Poinsettia

Herb

Annual

Vascular

Toothed Spurge is an introduced annual plant in the Spurge family (Euphorbiaceae). It is native from northern Mexico north through the south-central United States and east to the Ohio River Valley. Toothed Spurge can be found throughout Alabama, but is most common in northern Alabama and the Black Belt region of central Alabama. Toothed Spurge grows on roadsides, along railroad tracks, in prairies and cedar glades, in fallow fields, and in other open disturbed sites. It is an annual from a tap root. Stems are erect, branched, green in color, inconspicuously pubescent, and one to three feet in height. The leaves are opposite, petiolate, narrowly lanceolate to suborbiculate in outline, broadest below the middle, pubescent, with coarsely toothed margins. The sap is a milky latex that dries when exposed to the air, sealing wounds. The flowers are extremely reduced, lacking petals and sepals, and are produced in a terminal inflorescence known as a cyathium. This consists of a cup-like receptacle with one female flower, 8-10 male flowers, and two nectar glands. It is surrounded by pale green or whitish (sometimes spotted with purple-red) modified leaves known as bracts. The fruit is a three lobed capsule.—A. Diamond

**

Not Native G5 (Global Rank)

**