Euphorbia dentata Michx. var. gracillima Millsp.
Euphorbia dentata Michx. var. lancifolia Farw.
Euphorbia davidii Subils
David’s spurge, toothed spurge
David’s spurge is native to southwestern and central North America.
Plants: Up to 2′ (70 cm) tall, with angled or erect stems that are sometimes branched. Stems are hairy with downward-pointing appressed hairs. They exude a thick milky latex.
Leaves: Mostly opposite, ⅜–4″ long ⨉ ⅜–1″ wide (1–10 ⨉ 1–3 cm), with coarse teeth and hairless or sparsely hairy surfaces. They are variable in shape—linear to elliptic, or lanceolate to ovate. Leaf tips are blunt or pointed. Upper leaf surfaces may have irregular purple blotches.
Flowers: Euphorbias have weird flowers called cyathia. In this species, the flowers are tiny, in a flattish cluster atop stem and branch tips. A small cup-shaped cyathium 1/16–⅛″ (2–3 mm) in size contains a singe central female flower surrounded by 4-8 male flowers. Flowers appear from July to October.
Fruits: Capsules with three round lobes, ⅛–3/16″ (4–5 mm) in size, containing a light gray to brown-black seed ~1/16″ (2.4–2.9 mm) in size with an irregular pocked surface, like a tiny meteor.
Habitats: Forests, riparian areas, and prairies, to gravel roadsides and railroads
Online References:
Euphorbia dentata auct. non Michx.
Euphorbia dentata Michx. var. gracillima Millsp.
Euphorbia dentata Michx. var. lancifolia Farw.
Euphorbia dentata Michx. var. gracillima Millsp.
Euphorbia dentata Michx. var. lancifolia Farw.
8/26/2014 · Rte 117, El Malpais National Monument Badlands, El Malpais, New Mexico · ≈ 4½ × 4″ (11 × 11 cm) 
9/1/2014 · Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico · ≈ 8 × 6″ (20 × 15 cm) 
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin) |
| Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients |
| Division | Magnoliophyta | Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms |
| Class | Magnoliopsida | Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves |
| Subclass | Rosidae | Roses, legumes, proteas, dogwoods, hydrangeas, mistletoes, euphorbias, grapes, many more |
| Order | Malpighiales | A broad group encompassing 16,000 species |
| Family | Euphorbiaceae | Euphorbia or spurge family |
| Genus | Euphorbia | An extremely diverse-looking genus of mostly tropical and subtropical succulent plants. For Euphorbus, corpulent Greek physician of Juba II, King of Mauretania. Literally, “euphorbia” means “well-fed” |
| Species | davidii | After missionary priest and zoologist Pere Armand David (1826-1900) |
Euphorbia davidii description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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