Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

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Euphorbia maculata

Common name

Eyebane

Family

Euphorbiaceae

Where found

Garden weed, often growing in lawns, cracks, and paths. ACT and Sydney area. Occasional elsewhere.

Notes

Introduced annual herb, prostrate, often forming dense mats, stems to 0.3m long, sometimes curving up, more or less hairy. Leaves opposite each other, 0.2-1.3 cm long, 0.5-4 mm wide, often with a central purplish blotch, often tinted red all over or on the margins only, often hairy, margins finely toothed or entire, tips blunt or somewhat pointed. Male and female flowers on the same plant. Flowers tiny, with 0 petals, green to reddish with purplish to pink or white lobed appendages to 0.5 mm wide, in small heads that look like a single flower, each head with several male flowers surrounding 1 female flower. Seed cases 1–2 mm in diameter.

Was Chamaesyce maculata.

PlantNET description:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Euphorbia~maculata  (accessed 22 January, 2021)