Wild Flowers East of the Rockies 1Q5 



SPURGE FAMILY (Euphorbiaceae). 



This family contains a dozen different genera, all 

 agreeing in that they have acrid, milky juices. 



SNOW-ON-THE-MOUNTAIN; WHITE-EDGED 

 SPURGE (Euphorbia marginata) is a large bushy 

 herb often cultivated because of its beautiful, white- 

 margined foliage. The stem is very stout and 

 branchy, and grows from 2 to 3 feet high. The leaves 

 are dark green, large, ovate-pointed and seated on 

 the stem; the lower ones are quite similar in shape to 

 those of the common milkweed and are alternated on 

 the stem; those near the end of the branches are 

 crowded, opposite or whorled about the stem; the 

 terminal ones have the edges of the leaves more or 

 less widely margined with clear white. 



The flowers are rather small, grouped in clusters 

 in the center of the terminal cluster of margined 

 leaves. The staminate and pistillate flowers are on 

 different plants. The involucre is five parted and 

 has five white petals. 



When broken, both the leaves and stems exude 

 quantities of a milky juice. This species of Spurge 

 grows in dry soil from Minn, and Ohio west to Colo- 

 rado, and is sometimes found in parts of the East 

 where it has escaped from gardens. 



PAINTED LEAF (Euphorbia heterophylla) is a pe- 

 culiar species found on rocky, woody slopes from 

 Minn, southwards to Texas and in Fla. The stout, 

 erect, branching, smooth stem grows from one to 

 three feet high. The alternating leaves vary from 

 ovate, sinuous-toothed, to lanceolate and smooth edg- 

 ed. The ones crowded at the ends of the branches 

 usually have red bases. The involucres in the ter- 

 minal cluster are five-parted. 



CYPRESS SPURGE (Euphorbia Cyparissias) is an 

 escape from gardens. It has very numerous, linear 

 leaves, and a large terminal cluster of greenish-white 

 flowers stained with russet-red. 



