Euphorbia lathyris L.
caper spurge
Glabrous, erect annual to biennial. Stems c. 30-120 cm high, usually not branched at base. Lvs opposite, decussate, exstipulate, sessile, entire, linear to oblong-lanceolate, truncate, acute and often mucronate at apex, 30-150 mm long, glaucous especially when young. Terminal umbel usually 3-4-rayed, with sometimes numerous axillary branches below; lvs subtending rays similar to stem lvs but slightly broader toward base; rays often secondarily branched and then usually forming compound dichasia or developed pseudomonopodially; lvs subtending ray-branches and cyathia broadly triangular, cordate at base. Glands crescent-shaped; horns blunt. Capsule ± smooth or slightly rugose, shallowly grooved, grooved on keels. Seeds rugulose, rounded, brown or grey, c. 5 mm long.
N.: throughout; S.: Nelson, Marlborough, Canterbury, Otago.
E. and C. Mediterranean 1870
Common and persistent in gardens, waste places, cultivated land, riverbeds, and coastal situations.
The frs are poisonous (Connor 1977) and so should not be used in place of true capers which are the frs of Capparis spinosa L.
Caper spurge is a common and conspicuous local weed easily distinguished from all other N.Z. spurges by the opposite decussate lvs (Plate 1), and large rounded rugose seeds (Fig. 59).
