Plant Name
Scientific Name: Chamaesyce setiloba
Synonym: Euphorbia setiloba
Common Names: Yuma Sandmat, Yuma Spurge
Plant Characteristics
Duration: Annual
Growth Habit: Herb/Forb
Arizona Native Status: Native
Habitat: Desert. This plant is usually found growing in sandy washes.
Flower Color: Bicolored red and white
Flowering Season: Spring, Summer, Fall
Height: Up to 1 inch (2.5 cm) tall and about 8 inches (20 cm) wide
Description: The tiny, unusual flowers have white, petal-like appendages with 3 to 5 distinctive point-tipped lobes and red central glands. The appendages are larger than the glands. The flowers are followed by tiny, hairy, round, lobed fruits. The leaves are small, green to red-tinged, hairy, opposite, smooth-edged, and oblong to egg-shaped. The stems are prostrate, branching, reddish, and hairy.
Classification
Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Rosidae
Order: Euphorbiales
Family: Euphorbiaceae – Spurge family
Genus: Chamaesyce Gray – sandmat
Species: Chamaesyce setiloba (Engelm. ex Torr.) J.B.S. Norton – Yuma sandmat
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