Monday Melange: Painted Spurge

Here in Northeast Texas we have these growing everywhere...now I know what they are!

Monday Melange: Painted Spurge

Written by Heleigh Bostwick    Monday, 24 January 2011

Painted spurge (Euphorbia cyathophora, is a poinsettia that is indigenous to the US, its range extending across a large portion of the US including Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Painted spurge is not found in New England, northern Mid-Atlantic States, the Pacific Northwest, or Nevada, Montana and the Dakotas. Painted spurge is a member of the Spurge family (Euphorbiaceae) family.Euphorbia is one of the largest genera of flowering plants in the world. Painted spurge is also known by a number of other common names including wild poinsettia, fire-on-the-mountain, Mexican fire plant, and summer poinsettia. It is a considered an annual plant and commonly planted in California where it becomes naturalized through reseeding. Its main attraction is it’s showy reddish-orange bracts and similar appearance to the cultivated poinsettia. Like there domestic counterparts, the flowers of wild poinsettia are inconspicuous. A somewhat weedy plant in certain parts of the country (particularly the south), in the wild painted spurge grows in alluvial soils, gravel bars adjacent to stream beds, and disturbed sites such as railroad beds. It will also thrive in “regular” garden soil and grows to a height of about 24 inches. It prefers full sun. Photo source: www.missouriplants.com