E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Euphorbia lathyris L.
caper spurge (moleplant)
Euphorbiaceae (Spurge family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

Distribution of Euphorbia lathyris
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Species Information

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Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

General:
Biennial herb from a fibrous root; stems erect, branched, fleshy, glabrous and glaucous, 30-100 cm tall.

Leaves:
Stem leaves opposite, the pairs arranged at right angles to the adjacent pairs near the stem base, narrowly oblong, 6-12 cm long, 7-15 mm wide, stalkless, broadening in shape upward on the stem; upper leaves distinctly more oval in shape and more or less heart-shaped.

Flowers:
Inflorescence of several stalked involucres solitary in the leaf axils; involucres 3 mm long, purplish; glands 4, with short, rounded horns.

Fruits:
Capsules, 5-10 mm long, globose, coarsely wrinkled; seeds 4-6 mm long, brownish, net-veined.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Mesic to dry roadsides and waste places in the lowland zone; rare in SW BC, known only from Victoria and Vancouver; introduced from Europe.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Climate

The climate type for this species, as reported in the: "British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes. Version 6 Database" (Meidinger et al. 2008), is not evaluated, unknown or variable.

Status Information

Origin Status	Provincial Status	BC List (Red Blue List)	COSEWIC
Exotic	SNA	Exotic	Not Listed

BC Ministry of Environment: BC Species and Ecosystems Explorer, the authoritative source for conservation information in British Columbia.

Synonyms and Alternate Names

Euphorbia lathyrus L. [orthographic variant]
Galarhoeus lathyris (L.) Haw.
Tithymalus lathyris (L.) Hill

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Genetic information (NCBI Taxonomy Database)
International Plant Names Index
Taxonomic Information from the World Flora Online
Integrated Taxonomic Information System

Additional Range and Status Information Links

Burke Museum of Natural History (Washington State records)
CalFlora
Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria records
Jepson Interchange
NatureServe Explorer
USDA

Additional Photo Sources

Images From CalPhoto
UT Austin's Native Plant Database
Google Image Search
Flickr Image Search

General References

Google Scholar Search
Family References
General Botanical References for BC

Recommended citation: Author, Date. Page title. In Klinkenberg, Brian. (Editor) 2020. E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia [eflora.bc.ca]. Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. [Accessed: 2024-09-20 6:20:27 AM ]

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