Euphorbia chamaesula

Kearney and Peebles 1969, McDougall 1973

Duration: Perennial Nativity: Native Lifeform: Forb/Herb General: Stout-stemmed perennial to 55 cm tall, erect, simply branching from the base, becoming more complex apically, sterile branches on the upper half below the inflorescence. Leaves: Oblong, elliptical, or lanceolate, sessile, to 20 mm long and 6 mm wide, margins entire, glabrous. Flowers: Male flowers tiny, yellow, cup-like involucres in terminal cymes, glands having small horns that resemble spikelike petals. Flowers subtended by leafy, green bracts that cup the flowers. Fruits: Capsules 4-5 mm long, truncate at the base. Ecology: Found on roadsides, along streams, in pine forests and wooded habitats from 5,500-8,000 ft (1676-2438 m); flowers June-August. Notes: The key to this species are the stems with densely leafy sterile branches on the upper half below the whorled leaves. Ethnobotany: Specific use of the species is unknown, but the genus was used as an infusion to treat diabetes, mouth, and skin sores, and as a bath to treat fevers, chickenpox, smallpox, and gonorrhea. In infusion of the roots was taken to invoke diarrhea. Etymology: Euphorbia is named for Euphorbus, Greek physician of Juba II, King of Mauretania, while chamaesula is uncertain. Synonyms: None Editor: LCrumbacher, 2011