Painted Spurge, Summer Poinsettia, Mexican Fireplant

Euphorbia heterophylla L.  and/or Euphorbia cyathophora Murray

Euphorbiaceae (Spurge Family)

▲▼ young, flowering plants

▲▼ young, flowering plants

▲▼ young, flowering plants

Painted Spurge, Summer Poinsettia, Mexican Fireplant: 

·         Summer annual plant that first produces oval to lanceolate leaves with shallowly-toothed margins and pointed leaf tips

·         Leaves become more fiddle-shaped at the top of the plant and sometimes have purplish color or speckling on them

·         When small  yellow-green flowers form at tips of stems, the fiddle-shaped leaves below the flowers may become more narrow and have bright red bases; on some varieties, the leaves maintain their fiddle-shape, but become more slender

·         Upright growing, with not a lot of branching, growing 6-24+ inches tall

·         Has milky sap

·         Found in cultivated fields, roadsides, gardens, non-crop areas; sometimes grown as an ornamental