Euphorbia prostrata

This plant can give the appearance of a chunky sweater with its warm colors and comforting shapes of its leaves. Indeed, it tolerates the heat well, and with its delicate look, it could become a favorite in your garden that you do not want to remove. The tones of red and green draw you in to look further and think of the cooler days of fall and winter.

Spurges are summer annual weeds that flourish in warm weather, but in warmer climates, some can persist into late fall. Plants flower in summer and early fall, then die after frost. Flowers are greenish-white. Spurges are some of the most common warm-season weeds in container nurseries. Each exudes a milky sap when stems or leaves are broken.

Spotted and Ground Spurge are similar and have prostrate to ascending stems with round or oblong leaves. Some have a large dark spot on the leaf blade. Seedlings are very small but will flower when young. This plant is a prolific seeder. Seeds have limited or no dormancy and germinate quickly.

Management for Spurges: Because spurges flower when young and have little or no seed dormancy, weed populations can increase rapidly. Remove plants when young to reduce seed production. They are time-consuming to hand weed due to the number of seedlings that form. Some species may forcefully discharge seeds. Spurges are well-managed by most pre-emergence herbicides labeled for use.

VIDEO Created by Elisabeth Meyer for "Houseplants, Succulents, and Cacti", a plant identification course offered in partnership with Longwood Gardens.

More information on Euphorbia.