Euphorbia helioscopia L.
sun spurge
Erect annual. Stems glabrous or sparsely hairy, simple or with a few lower branches, up to c. 50 cm high. Lvs alternate, glabrous, exstipulate, sessile, serrate toward apex, obovate and long-cuneate to base, usually rounded at apex, rarely subacute, (10)-20-40-(60) mm long. Terminal umbel 3-5-rayed, usually with no axillary rays below on each stem; lvs subtending umbel similar to stem lvs but usually broader and less cuneate; rays often secondarily branched and then forming compound dichasia; lvs subtending ray-branches and cyathia similar to stem lvs but much smaller and less cuneate, sometimes elliptic, conspicuous yellow-green. Glands elliptic, entire. Capsule smooth, deeply grooved, with keel rounded or slightly ridged. Seeds reticulate-rugose, rounded, dark brown, c. 2 mm long.
N.: frequent throughout; S.: common in Nelson, Marlborough, and Canterbury, also recorded once from Otago Peninsula; Ch.
Europe, C. Asia 1855
Common in gardens, waste places and crops, occasional in riverbeds.
Poisonous (Connor 1977).
E. helioscopia and E. peplus are the 2 most common spurges in N.Z. and they are quite frequently confused. The sun spurge is distinguished by its serrate lvs, entire glands (Fig. 58) and reticulate-rugose seeds (Fig. 59).
