Chamaesyce setiloba – Yuma Sandmat

Chamaesyce setiloba - Yuma Sandmat, Yuma Spurge (flowers)

Chamaesyce setiloba - Yuma Sandmat, Yuma Spurge

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

More About This Plant

Arizona County Distribution Map