Wildflower Wednesday: Euphorbia corollata

 I am still crazy about our native Euphorbias. I love most of the weedy Euphorbias, but Euphorbia corollata is NOT a weedy plant! It's a wonderful white flower addition to any late summer garden that is filled with yellow composites.

I appreciate that it softens all the yellows, but it's a powerhouse plant! It has survived weeks without watering, weeks of temperatures in the 90s and the attempted take over of the garden by Partridge Pea.

 

Flowering spurge is special. 

• it has small white flowers with yellow centers with a touch of green that are held above dusty-green foliage. 
• it's dusty green glabrous foliage is attractive even out of bloom. 
• bonus points when those leaves turn pinkish or red in the fall.

the foliage contains a toxic white latex

 

What makes it extra special:

• its unique flowers, 
• long bloom time (up to six weeks), 
• noticeable seed heads, 
• ability to tolerate any soil (just give it good drainage) 
• the glabrous foliage.
•  it blooms in both full sun and part shade in my garden. 
• once it's established it's also a deer and drought resistant plant. Both pluses in a garden visited by deer and with hot, dry summer months. 

Because it prefers poor soil rather than a rich soil, it's less likely to be out compted by other plants. That worked well at Clay and Limestone until the Partridge pea moved in! 

My bad...I have a tough time pulling out blooming flowers, but the partridge pea was aggressively crowding the Euphorbia. So it had to go. Trust me there's plenty left for the very busy bees. 

Flowering Spurge has a whorled stem which produces branches that contain numerous flowers.

Flowers  of this spurge are actually modified leaves; the "real" flowers are small, golden structures in the middle of the white bracts.Those real flowers are Flowering Spurge are an important nectar source for the endangered Karner Blue butterfly. For readers north of Tennessee, the Karner Blue geographical region is along the Great Lakes region.

After bloom, female flowers become capsules, each containing three seeds. The capsules split open to eject their seeds.

 

Euphorbias share some important characteristics. 

• they all secrete milky, caustic, latex sap when injured—an adaptation that likely evolved to discourage predators.
•  flowers grow in a cyathium, a structure found nowhere else in the plant kingdom. 
• a cyathium consists of fused bracts that form a small cup and hold a group of tiny flowers
• there are both male and female flowers on the plant
  
• they have cool developing seedheads

THE PARTICULARS

Family: Euphorbiaceae (Spurge family)

Botanical Name: Euphorbia corollata

Common Names:  Baby's Breath of the Prairie, Eastern Flowering Spurge, Flowering Spurge, Garden Spurge, Poison Milkweed, Tramp's Spurge, White-flowered Milkweed, White Spurge, Wild Hippo, Wild Spurge 
 

Native range: Texas north to South Dakota and east through all of the states to the Atlantic. It is also known from Ontario.

Hardiness: Zones 3a to 9b

source

Soil: Prefers dry, well draining, poor soil which helps deter competition

Exposure: Full sun to partial shade

Flower: Sprays of tiny flowers cover this plant in mid-summer. The small green nectar glands and their extensions can easily be mistaken for petals on this interesting flower. Euphorbias have male and female flowers on the same plants, I find the developing fruit quite interesting to observe.

Autumn color: The leaves and stem can color from pinkish-red to scarlet color.

Wildlife value: Attracts all kinds of wasps, small bees, flies, small butterflies and predatory or parasatoid insects that prey upon pest insects. Please follow the link to  Illinois Wildflowers to find an extensive list of faunal associations. Flowering Spurge is rarely eaten by mammalian herbivores because of the toxic white latex in its foliage

Toxic: Contact with plant, especially its milky sap, can cause irritation of skin, eyes, and mucous membranes.

Where to plant: This tap rooted plant needs to go into the ground as soon as possible. It doesn't thrive in a container. Plant it in well drained soil and protect it from aggressive plants.

 

the  fruit/pods split and expel their seed

Saving Flowering Spurge Seeds: This plant produces small pods that will split and expel their seed when completely ripe. Gather the pods as soon as they begin to dry, but before they split. Spread the pods out to dry in a protected location, keeping in mind that they may still explode. Separate the seed from the husks. Store the seed in a cool, dry place. I use a net bag that ties around the plant to collect seeds. See below.

Flowering Spurge Germination: Direct sow in late fall, pressing the seeds into the surface of the soil. Seeds require 30 days of cold stratification for germination. The plant will self-seed.
The source for seed collection and germination information; you can also order seeds.

Sources: Missouri Wildflowers, Prairie Moon Nursery, Izel Native Plants, Plant Delights Nursery, Wonder Gift and Garden

 I like this plant so much that I keep adding more to my garden. It might look delicate but it is a hardy plant. If it can survive a cedar glade, then it can survive almost anything we gardeners throw at it. 

xoxogail 

 Welcome to Wildflower Wednesday and thank you for stopping by to see Euphorbia corollata a sweet wildflower that you'll rarely see in a nursery, but, might see out your car window as you drive down a county road. Thanks also, for joining in and if you are new to Wildflower Wednesday, it's about sharing and celebrating wildflowers from all over this great big, beautiful world. Join us on the fourth Wednesday of each month. Please share your wildflowers on your favorite social media site. Share to help educate others!

Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.