The open plant encyclopedia
Snap a photo or search by any name to see how to care for it, where it comes from, whether it's safe, and a 3D model you can turn.
The plants people record most in your country, and ones that grow there wild.
Filter by what you want to do, shape, origin, country, care and safety.
Euphorbia lathyris
Also called Caper spurge, Gopher Plant, Mole Plant, Gopherplant
Euphorbia lathyris is a biennial spurge from Central Asia, often called caper spurge or mole plant, that is widely naturalised and considered invasive in many regions. It grows readily in partial shade to full sun and is hardy in USDA zones 5 to 9.
Euphorbia lathyris, the caper spurge or paper spurge, is a species of spurge native to Asia in western China, Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan and introduced elsewhere.
Other names occasionally used include gopher spurge, gopher plant or mole plant.
Away from its native range, it is widely naturalised in many regions, where it is often considered an invasive weed. It grows in partial shade to full sun in USDA hardiness zones 5–9.
It is used in folk medicine as a remedy for cancer, corns, and warts and has purportedly been used by beggars to induce skin boils.
Abd Al Kuri Euphorbia · Desert Candle · Greek Spiny Spurge · Euphorbia actinoclada · Miniature Saguaro · Pincushion Euphorbia · Euphorbia alcicornis · Euphorbia alfredii · Euphorbia ambarivatoensis · Euphorbia ambovombensis · African candelabra · Euphorbia ampliphylla
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Euphorbia lathyris by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
