Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

EYEBANE

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Euphorbia maculata (L. )

[=Chamaesyce nutans (Lag. ) Small]

Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas

Annual

Height: 2-20 inches

Family: Euphorbiaceae - Spurge Family

Flowering Period: July, August, September,October

Also Called:

Spotted sandmat.

Stems:

Low-spreading to erect, branched above, tan to reddish-brown, sparsely to moderately white pubescent, sometimes in lines on opposite sides of stem; branch tips often arched.

Leaves:

Opposite, sessile or very short-stalked, oblong or oblong-lanceolate to egg-shaped, slightly curved or sickle-shaped, .3 to 1.6 inch long, 3-nerved; surfaces glabrous or more commonly sparsely to moderately long-hairy near base; upper surface often with reddish spot; lower surface pale green or reddish-tinged; margins irregularly toothed; tips rounded or bluntly pointed; bases asymmetrical, side nearest stem tip usually angled or rounded.

Inflorescences:

Cup-like involcure, solitary or in small clusters, in leaf axils.

Flowers:

Involcure egg-shaped, to 1/25 inch long, green or reddish-tinged, glabrous, rim shallowly 4-lobed; lobes white or pink, petal-like; staminate flowers 2--5; sepals 0; petals 0; stamen 1; pistillate flower: sepals 0; petals 0; ovary pubescent; styles 2-cleft for 1/3--1/4 their lengths.

Fruits:

Capsule, ovoid, 3-lobed, to 1/10 inch long, on short stalk from cup-like involcure; seeds tiny, egg-shaped, wrinkled, grayish to light brown.

Habitat:

Disturbed sites, fields, thickets, roadsides, stream banks, waste areas; moist or dry soils.

Distribution:

Occurs statewide

Origin:

Native

Toxicity:

Poisonous to livestock, particularly when in hay. Known to cause death in lambs through photosensitization.

Uses:

Native Americans rubbed the stem sap on their skin for itching and eczema and applied a poultice of crushed leaves to sores.

Comments:

The leaves tend to fold late in the day. The common name suggests that care should be taken to avoid getting the sap in one's eyes. For Euphorbus, 1st century Greek physcian and maculata, spotted, alluding to the reddish purplish spot on the leaf.

Eyebane