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.
Euphorbia helioscopia L.
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.
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).
