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 maculata
Also called Spotted Spurge, Spotted Sandmat, Blotched Spurge, Creeping Spurge, Hairy Fruited Spurge, Milk Spurge, Prostrate Spurge
Milk purslane is a low, mat-forming annual weed native to North America, found along roadsides, sidewalk cracks and disturbed ground. It is grown mainly as a wild plant rather than a garden ornamental, and it thrives in full sun and poor, sandy or gravelly soil.
Euphorbia maculata, known as spotted spurge, prostrate spurge (not to be confused with Euphorbia prostrata), milk purslane, or spotted sandmat, is a fast-growing annual plant in the family Euphorbiaceae. It is native to North America, where it is generally considered a common weed. It can be found in disturbed soils such as garden beds, along railroad tracks, and in the cracks of sidewalks. It has become a common introduced species throughout the world, including Europe, Japan, Korea, Australia, and New Zealand.
It grows in sunny locations and a variety of soils, and functions as a pioneer species in ecological succession. The sap of this plant is a mild skin irritant and can cause a rash in some people. The milky sap of plants in genus Euphorbia is poisonous and considered carcinogenic.
Euphorbia maculata, like much of the Euphorbiaceae is considered toxic. Its effects may include mild skin irritation, which is amplified when exposed to the sun, irritation to the stomach, and vomiting as well as being generally considered a carcinogen. The toxins come from a thin, white, milky sap that is produced when either the leaf or the stem gets broken. Contact with the eyes, skin, or mouth should be avoided.
Euphorbia maculata is considered native to all of the continental United States according to the United States Department of Agriculture. Spotted Spurge has been naturalized in much of the world. This includes South America, Australia, Asia, parts of Africa, and throughout Europe.
Euphorbia maculata is understood throughout most of North America as a weed, however it is used in Asia as a medicinal plant. The species possesses triterpenoids that when medicinally applied, have anti-inflammatory and anti-proliferative properties.
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 maculata 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.
