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SPURGE FAMILY (Euphorbiacea) 



{Euphorbia Helioscopia L. 

 \Tithymalus Helioscopia (L.) Hill/ 



COMMON NAMES: Among many other English names given to the sun 

 spurge we find wartweed, sunweed, turnsole, churnstaff, cat's-milk, wolf's- 

 milk. 



DESCRIPTION: The sun spurge is a smooth annual plant with an erect, 

 stout stem from eight to twelve inches high, often branched from the 

 base. The branches, as well as the main stem, end in a more or less 

 compound umbel which is subtended by a circle of leaflets. The leaves 

 are scattered along the stem; they are somewhat oblong or wedge-shaped, 

 sometimes nearly round, from one-half to four inches long, finely saw- 

 edged, and narrowed to a short stalk. The rather inconspicuous flowers 

 are of two kinds, the staminate and pistillate on the same plant, both 

 included in a cup-shaped involucre resembling a calyx or corolla. The 

 staminate flowers are numerous, lining the inside of the cup, each con- 

 sisting of one single stamen in the axil of a very little bract. The pistillate 

 flower is solitary in the centre of the cup and consists of a three-lobed, 

 three-celled ovary which soon protrudes on a long stalk and hangs over 

 the brim of the cup-like involucre. The seeds are reddish-brown, strongly 

 honeycombed. The plant is in bloom from June till October. 



DISTRIBUTION: Introduced from Europe, the sun spurge has become 

 common in east Quebec and Ontario, and is gradually spreading in Canada. 



POISONOUS PROPERTIES: All species of Euphorbia or spurge con- 

 tain a more or less poisonous milky juice, which is very acrid, and in 

 contact with the skin causes extreme irritation, inflammation, vesication, 

 and in some cases gangrene. The poisonous substances have not yet 

 been fully investigated. 



In regard to the spurges, H. C. Long says: "The caper spurge (E. 

 Lathyrus L.) contains an acrid, emetic, and highly purgative milky juice, 

 and the fruits have commonly been employed by country folk as a purge, 

 and also as a pickle, though they are dangerous and should not be so used. 

 Pratt records a case in which five women ate the pickled fruits with boiled 

 mutton, and all suffered severe pain and burning in the stomach, and showed 

 other symptoms attendant on irritant poisoning and though all recovered 

 the illness was severe. Used in this manner, indeed, they have given rise 

 to serious cases of human poisoning. Sun spurge (E. Helioscopia L.) 

 is similarly poisonous to the preceding species. It has caused fatal 

 poisoning to a boy who ate it. In Germany, cows were poisoned through 

 pasturing in stubble in which the plant was growing, but there were no 

 deaths." 



