Species · genus Euphorbia · Euphorbiaceae

Petty Spurge

Euphorbia peplus L.

Also known as: Radium-plant · Purple Spurge · Stinging Milkweed

Growth habit

annual

Native range

Albania, Algeria, Austria, Baleares, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Corse, Czechia-Slovakia, East Aegean Is., East European Russia, Egypt, Eritrea, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Gulf States, Hungary, Iceland, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Kriti, Lebanon-Syria, Libya, Morocco, Netherlands, North Caucasus, Northwest European Russia, Norway, NW. Balkan Pen., Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sardegna, Saudi Arabia, Sicilia, Sinai, Somalia, South European Russia, Spain, Sudan-South Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Transcaucasus, Tunisia, Türkiye, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine, West Himalaya, Yemen

Reference · E. peplus

Cultivars of E. peplus

The named forms growers keep — each with its own page, each honest about how much we know.

No named cultivars catalogued under E. peplus yet. When growers document a stable, named form, it earns its own page here.

Guide

The species-level account. Cultivar pages build on this and say where they differ.

Euphorbia peplus is a small annual ruderal weed native across Europe, the Mediterranean, and into the Middle East and West Himalaya, at home in disturbed open ground rather than lush conditions. Give it bright light and a fast-draining mix, and water only when the top inch or so of soil has dried out, since it tolerates dryness far better than sitting wet. As an annual it completes its life in a single season, so expect flowering, seed set, and decline rather than long-term growth.

Care recipe

The species record — the baseline every cultivar inherits unless it says otherwise.

Care notes are early — not yet verified

Light: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Water: ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 5-10d)
Humidity: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Soil: ai:claude-fable-5
Care: ai:claude-fable-5

Light

Bright, indirect

Water

≈ every 10 days

Humidity

Medium

Temperature

10–27 °C

Soil mix

Gritty, fast-draining sandy mix

Propagation

Seed, or reseeds readily; a weedy annual spurge

Fertilizing

Light balanced feed once or twice in the growing season

Growth rate

Fast

Flowering

Tiny green cyathia appear readily indoors

ToxicityAuthoritative · species

Toxic to cats & dogs & humans

Euphorbiaceae produce an irritant milky latex (sap) that can burn skin, eyes, and mucous membranes. This is where toxicity lives: every cultivar of this species inherits it and none can override it.

Reference images

Every image credited. Licenses link to their deeds.

No reference gallery yet

A few clear photos — habit, a mature leaf, a flower if it blooms — would give this page its eyes.

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Sources: ai:claude-opus-4-8 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 5-10d) · ai:claude-fable-5 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (family inference)

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow Petty Spurge yourself? What you’ve observed — how it drinks, how it holds its color, a name that’s off — is exactly what keeps this page honest. Contributions are reviewed before anything changes.