Weeds Identification Gallery

Petty Spurge

  • Euphorbia (=Chamaesyce) peplus
  • Spurge Family: Euphorbiaceae
Updated: 01/2026

Petty spurge, a winter or summer annual broadleaf plant, is a weed of urban places such as landscaped areas and gardens preferring moist, shady locations and often occuring among shrubs and flowerbeds. It also inhabits agricultural land and is found throughout California, except for deserts and the Great Basin, to an elevation of 1000 feet (300 m). Consumption of this plant can cause digestive tract problems, and although rare, it has been reported to be fatally toxic to humans and livestock. The milky sap may cause dermatitis.

Habitat

Landscaped areas, yards, crop fields and disturbed, unmanaged sites.

Petty spurge around rose shrub, Davis Credit: Jack Kelly Clark, UC IPM
Infestation. Credit: Jack Kelly Clark, UC IPM

Seedling

Cotyledons (seed leaves) are oval, about 1/6 to 1/3 of an inch (4–7 mm) long, hairless, and sit atop a short stalk. The first leaf pair are opposite or alternate to one another on the stem.

Mature Plant

Petty spurge is a hairless, erect, light green plant, with single or branched slender stems that can grow to almost 20 inches (0.5 m) tall. Lower leaves are egg shaped, with a rounded to a slighted indented tip, 2/5 to 1-2/5 inches (1–3.5 cm) long, on a short stalk, and are either alternate to one another or almost opposite to one another with one leaf in each pair attaching a little below the other. Reduced leaves (bracts) are opposite to one another along the flowering portion of the stem. A whitish sap exudes when stems are broken.

Overall plant is thick and tall with short stems branching from a single main stalk. Leaves are smaller on the branching stems than on the main step. This plant is amogst rocks. Copyright information is at the bottom (Copyright 2007 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.). Credit: Joseph M. DiTomaso, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources
Mature plant. Credit: Joseph M. DiTomaso, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources

Flowers

Flowers bloom from February through August. Tiny, greenish-yellow, non-showy flowers are grouped in small flowerlike cups and surrounded by crescent-shaped glands with tiny horns at each end.

Flowering stem with whorled leaves and spiky flowers that are the same color as the leaves. Copyright information is at the bottom (Copyright 2007 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.). Credit: Joseph M. DiTomaso, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources
Flowering stem. Credit: Joseph M. DiTomaso, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources

Fruits

Fruits consist of tiny three-lobed capsules, 1/17 to 1/10 of an inch (1.5–3 mm) in diameter, hairless, and nearly round. Each capsule contains three seeds.

Petty spurge exuding milky white liquid where cut, Davis Credit: Jack Kelly Clark, UC IPM
Leaves and fruit. Credit: Jack Kelly Clark, UC IPM

Seeds

Seeds are oblong with four angles, white to gray, and are about 1/25 to 1/17 of an inch (1–1.5 mm) long. With magnification, minute pitting can be seen on the surface.

Three fruit pods, two are green and one is tan. All are cracked open along one end. The seeds are beige with deep pits lined up on the surface. A 1 mm bar shows the fruit to be about 2 mm long and 1.5 mm wide. The seeds are about 1.5 mm long and 0.75 mm wide. Copyright information is at the bottom (Copyright 2007 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.). Credit: James A. O'Brien, University of California
Seeds and fruit. Credit: James A. O'Brien, University of California

Reproduction

Reproduces by seed.

  • Spotted spurge, Euphorbia (=Chamaesyce) maculata
  • Creeping spurge, Euphorbia (=Chamaesyce) serpens

More Information

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