Poison Milkweed Euphorbia corollata
Other Common Name(s):
- Phonetic Spelling
- yoo-FOR-bee-ah kor-ol-LAY-tah
- This plant has low severity poison characteristics.
- See below
- Description
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Flowering Spurge is a herbaceous perennial that is slender, diffusely branched, and, when wounded, can produce a toxic milky cell sap. The arrangement of the plant's leaves is distinctive, being alternate along the length of each stem, but changing to a whorl of three or more just beneath a flower. Flowering Spurge is monoecious, meaning that male and female flowers are produced on the same plant. Flowers bloom from early summer to early autumn, with no fragrance. During the bloom, an entire plant may lean to one side because of the weight of its inflorescence. After bloom, female flowers become capsules, each containing three seeds. The capsules split open to eject their seeds. The root system consists of a taproot that becomes woody with age.
Flowering Spurge prefers full sun and dry conditions and tolerates almost any kind of soil, including loam, clay, sand, gravel, or rocky material as long as they are well-drained. It can typically be found as a wildflower in forests or natural areas at the edge of woods, or as a weed in disturbed areas along roadsides, waste places, and old fields. Thriving in poor soil is an advantage for this plant because it reduces competition.
Diseases, Insects, and Other Plant Problems: No significant problems
VIDEO Created by Elisabeth Meyer for "Houseplants, Succulents, and Cacti", a plant identification course offered in partnership with Longwood Gardens.
- Profile Video:
- See this plant in the following landscape:
- Cultivars / Varieties:
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- Tags:
- Cultivars / Varieties:
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- Tags:
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Attributes:
- Genus:
- Euphorbia
- Species:
- corollata
- Family:
- Euphorbiaceae
- Life Cycle:
- Perennial
- Recommended Propagation Strategy:
- Division
- Seed
- Country Or Region Of Origin:
- South East Canada to Central & Eastern U.S.A
- Distribution:
- throughout
- Wildlife Value:
- Pollen and nectar attracts bees and other polinators.
- Particularly Resistant To (Insects/Diseases/Other Problems):
- drought
- Edibility:
- toxic
- Dimensions:
- Height: 1 ft. 0 in. - 2 ft. 0 in.
- Width: 1 ft. 0 in. - 2 ft. 0 in.
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Whole Plant Traits:
- Plant Type:
- Native Plant
- Perennial
- Poisonous
- Wildflower
- Habit/Form:
- Ascending
- Clumping
- Erect
- Multi-stemmed
- Spreading
- Maintenance:
- Low
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Cultural Conditions:
- Light:
- Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)
- Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
- Soil Texture:
- Clay
- High Organic Matter
- Loam (Silt)
- Sand
- Shallow Rocky
- Soil Drainage:
- Good Drainage
- Occasionally Dry
- NC Region:
- Coastal
- Mountains
- Piedmont
- USDA Plant Hardiness Zone:
- 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
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Fruit:
- Fruit Color:
- Green
- Display/Harvest Time:
- Fall
- Summer
- Fruit Type:
- Capsule
- Fruit Length:
- < 1 inch
- Fruit Description:
- After blooming, the female flowers are replaced by 3-celled capsules of small seeds, globoid, and 3-lobed in shape; there is one seed for each cell of a capsule. At maturity, these capsules split open to eject their seeds. The seeds are ovoid-obovoid in shape, and finely mottled. Fruits appear between June and October.
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Flowers:
- Flower Color:
- White
- Flower Inflorescence:
- Panicle
- Flower Value To Gardener:
- Long Bloom Season
- Showy
- Flower Bloom Time:
- Fall
- Summer
- Flower Shape:
- Cup
- Flower Petals:
- Bracts
- Flower Size:
- > 6 inches
- Flower Description:
- Each mature stem terminates in a panicle of flowers up to 9 inches long and 12 inches across. This panicle is somewhat flat-headed and it has an open airy appearance. Individual flower clusters (called cyathia) span about ¼ inch across (including their petaloid bracts). Each cyathium functions like a complete flower and has the tiny unisexual flowers, 5 white petaloid bracts, and 5 green nectar glands at the bases of these bracts. Because Flowering Spurge is monoecious, separate male (staminate) and female (pistillate) flowers are produced on the same plant. Each male flower has several stamens, while each female flower has an ovary with a tripartite style. The petaloid bracts are obovate in shape; sometimes they are slightly notched at their tips. The branches and pedicels of the inflorescence are light green, glabrous, and terete; pairs of small leafy bracts up to ½ inch long occur at the bases of pedicels and where the branches divide. The blooming period occurs from early summer to early autumn, lasting about 1 to 2 months between June to September for a colony of plants. There is no floral fragrance.
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Leaves:
- Leaf Color:
- Green
- Leaf Value To Gardener:
- Showy
- Deciduous Leaf Fall Color:
- Red/Burgundy
- Leaf Arrangement:
- Alternate
- Opposite
- Whorled
- Leaf Shape:
- Linear
- Oblong
- Leaf Margin:
- Entire
- Hairs Present:
- No
- Leaf Length:
- 1-3 inches
- Leaf Width:
- < 1 inch
- Leaf Description:
- Alternate leaves occur along the entire length of each stem, except at the apex underneath an inflorescence, where the uppermost leaves occur in a whorl of 3 or more. They are widely spreading to ascending. Individual leaves are up to 2½ inches long and ½ inch across; they are linear-oblong to oblong in shape and their margins are entire (toothless). The tips of these leaves are blunt, while their bases are sessile or nearly so. The upper and lower leaf surfaces are light gray-green to medium green and glabrous (rarely the lower leaf surface is pubescent). Leaf venation is pinnate with prominent central veins. The foliage of this plant contains a toxic white latex.
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Stem:
- Stem Color:
- Green
- Stem Is Aromatic:
- No
- Stem Form:
- Straight
- Stem Surface:
- Smooth (glabrous)
- Stem Description:
- Stems are unbranched, except at their apices, where the inflorescences occur. Each stem is light green, terete, glabrous, and sometimes glaucous (rarely it is pubescent).
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Landscape:
- Landscape Location:
- Meadow
- Slope/Bank
- Landscape Theme:
- Drought Tolerant Garden
- Native Garden
- Pollinator Garden
- Design Feature:
- Border
- Attracts:
- Bees
- Small Mammals
- Songbirds
- Resistance To Challenges:
- Drought
- Problems:
- Poisonous to Humans
- Weedy
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Poisonous to Humans:
- Poison Severity:
- Low
- Poison Symptoms:
- The milky white latex sap found in all plant parts can cause mild to severe contact dermatitis. If contact with the eyes occurs the sap can cause temporary to permanent damage to the cornea. If eaten, blistering can occur on lips and oral mucosa. Avoid ingesting plant parts and keep plants away from pets and children.
- Poison Toxic Principle:
- Diterpene esters in milky latex
- Causes Contact Dermatitis:
- Yes
- Poison Part:
- Sap/Juice
