Leafy Spurge - Euphorbia esula
Above: Leafy Spurge around Marion Dunn Pond in Madison, Wisconsin (6/22/21).
Leafy Spurge - Euphorbia esula (INVASIVE)
Leafy Spurge grows 6" - 32" tall and invades open areas, including prairies, savannas, and roadsides. Leafy Spurge is most aggressive in areas where soil moisture is limited.
The small flowers are borne in umbels with a basal pair of bright yellow-green petal-like bracts. These bracts develop in late spring, and the flowers develop within the bracts by early summer.
Seeds are 0.08” long, oblong, gray to purple, and are borne in pods which contain three seeds. When mature, seed capsules shatter, scattering seeds.
Blooms late spring to summer.
Other names: Green spurge.
Above: Leafy Spurge leaves (6/18/21).
For more information on the Leafy Spurge, visit Wikipedia.
Or, visit the Southeastern Wisconsin Invasive Species Consortium, Inc. website page on Leafy Spurge.
Or, view the UW-Madison Wisconsin Extension PDF about Leafy Spurge (Euphorbia esula).
Leafy Spurge
Euphorbia esula
Above: Leafy Spurge around Marion Dunn Pond in Madison, Wisconsin (6/22/21).
Above: Leafy Spurge around Marion Dunn Pond in Madison, Wisconsin (6/21/21).
Above: Leafy Spurge with detail of flowers and immature seeds near Whitney Way in Madison, Wisconsin (6/22/21).
Above: Leafy Spurge (Euphorbia esula) botanical illustration by Jacob Strum circa 1796.
Above: Leafy Spurge botanical drawing.
