Arizona Sand Mat
Euphorbia arizonica
Chamaesyce arizonica
On a rocky slope near Queen Creek, Pinal Co., Arizona. March 2017.
PERENNIAL: After periods of cold weather the leaves and stems change to red. Stems
may spread out prostrate up to 30 cm, sometimes with stems ascending.
LEAVES: The leaves are opposite on the stems and the tips are blunt pointed.
RANGE: Upper Sonoran Scrub on rocky or sandy slopes from central Arizona south into Sonora.
Also New Mexico and western Texas.
FLOWERS: The small flowers are showy in mass. Minute flowers in an urn-shaped structure bearing red glands and white or pink appendages.
UNARMED: No thorns, but the milky sap can be a skin or eye irritant.
FRUIT: Very small capsules, barely larger than 2 mm, are hairy, three-parted and each contains usually
three seeds.