Plant Name
Scientific Name: Chamaesyce florida
Synonym: Euphorbia florida
Common Name: Chiricahua Mountain Sandmat
Plant Characteristics
Duration: Annual
Growth Habit: Herb/Forb
Arizona Native Status: Native
Habitat: Desert, Upland
Flower Color: White (new flowers), Pink (old flowers)
Flowering Season: Summer. This wildflower blooms after the summer monsoon rains have begun.
Height: 4 to 24 inches (10 to 61 cm) tall
Description: The small flowers have a green, pea-shaped ovary and 4, rounded, petal-like lobes that open white and then age to pink. There is usually a mix of both flower colors on one plant. The leaves are green, linear, opposite, minutely toothed, and widely spaced along the slender, reddish stems.
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 florida (Engelm.) Millsp. – Chiricahua Mountain sandmat
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