Sun spurge
Other names:
Wolf's Milk
General poisoning notes:
Sun spurge (Euphorbia
helioscopia) is a naturalized herb occasionally found in southern Canada.
The latex contains a strong irritant that causes burning and swelling in
animals that ingest it. Sheep were poisoned and a human child died after
ingesting the plant. This plant can cause irritation to livestock that
ingestion it.
Description:
An erect sparingly
pilose to glabrescent bright green fleshy annual herb up to 50 cm tall, but
more commonly 10-30 cm tall. Stem-leaves alternate, shortly petiolate, the
petioles 1-2 mm long; leaf-blades obovate-spathulate, 1-3 (-4.5) x 0.5-1.5 (-2)
cm, obtuse, rounded or retuse at the apex, tapered to the base, serrulate
towards the apex, otherwise entire, readily deciduous, leaving scars.
Pseudumbel flat, 5-rayed, the rays trifid then once or twice bind, usually
without axillary rays below the pseudumbel; pseudumbel-leaves 5, whorled,
similar to the upper stem-leaves but often slightly larger; ray-leaves whorled
in 3’s or opposite, the lower obliquely obovate to elliptic-ovate and
asymmetric at the base, comparable to the upper stem-leaves in size, the upper
± suborbicular and progressively smaller. Cyathia very shortly pedunculate to
subsessile. Glands transversely ovate, greenish. Fruit roundly triobate with
deep grooves and subglobose cocci, 2.5-3 x 2.5-3.5 mm, ± smooth, glabrous, pale
green. Styles spreading, recurved, united at the base, 0.75 mm long, bipartite,
the stigmas slightly swollen. Seeds ovoid, 2 x 13 mm, strongly reticulate, dark
brown, obtusely apiculate with a flat, adpressed, transversely ovate caruncle.
Nomenclature:
Scientific Name: Euphorbia helioscopia L.
Vernacular
name(s): sun spurge
Scientific family
name: Euphorbiaceae
Vernacular family
name: spurge
Geographic Information
Plant or plant
parts used in or around the home.
Toxic parts:
Latex.
Toxic plant chemicals:
12-deoxyphorbol.
Animals/Human Poisoning:
Note: When an
animal is listed without additional information, the literature (as of 1993)
contained no detailed explanation.
Humans
Sheep
General symptoms of
poisoning:
abdominal
pains
coma
death
diarrhea
lungs,
congestion of
mouth,
irritation of
salivation
vomiting.
Notes on poisoning:
In Britain, sheep
that had ingested sun spurge experienced severe swelling and inflammation of
the mouth, diarrhea, and salivation. The animals recovered fully when moved to
new pasture that did not contain this plant (Cooper and Johnson 1984). One of
two children died after sucking the juice of sun spurge. Symptoms included
burning of the mouth, esophagus, and stomach, salivation, vomiting, narrowing
of the pupils, and lung edema. One child went into a coma before death (Cooper
and Johnson 1984).
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