This prostrate annual forb spreads up to 1 foot wide in a mat with reddish stems. It can be found in varied habitat types and in many areas grows as a roadside weed. Milky sap of spurge plants is a skin irritant and can be toxic.
Seeds are smooth, or irregularly and obscurely roughened or pitted. Stamens 5 to 18 per flower. Leaf margins minutely serrate at the apex.
Habitat
Sandy hillsides, desert grasslands, dry washes, and disturbed areas.
Flower Characteristics
The flowers are tiny and cup shaped with white petal-like appendages surrounding the actual flowers. There are 4 male flowers and a single female flower, the latter developing into a lobed, hairy fruit capsule.
Leaf and Stem Characteristics
Leaves are opposite with serrated margins on the upper half and are often red along the midveins.
Fruit and Seed Characteristics
Seed capsules are oval, lobed, and hairy.
Tiny seeds are ovoid and white to brown.