SPURGE FAMILY 
( Euphorbiacece) 
Snow-on-the-Mountain; White-edged Spurge ( Eu¬ 
phorbia marginata) is a large bushy herb often culti¬ 
vated 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 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 quan¬ 
tities of a milky juice. This species of Spurge grows 
in dry soil from Minn, and Ohio west to Colorado, and 
is sometimes found in parts of the East. 
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