Plant Name
Scientific Name: Cnidoscolus angustidens
Common Name: Mala Mujer
Plant Characteristics
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Herb/Forb
Arizona Native Status: Native
Habitat: Desert, Upland. It grows on rocky hillsides and is especially common in the foothills of Arizona's Santa Rita Mountains.
Flower Color: White
Flowering Season: Spring (late), Summer
Height: To 4 feet (1.2 m) tall
Description: The 3/4 inch (1.9 cm) wide male flowers are in clusters and have white stamens and 5 petal-like lobes. The small, round female flowers are at the base of the male flower clusters. The attractive, maple-like leaves are dark green, heart-shaped, lobed, toothed, and covered in white polka dots. A stinging hair is at the center of each white dot, so do not touch the leaves. Stinging hairs are also present on the stems and at the base of the flowers.
Special Characteristics
Stinging or Itching – The entire plant is dotted with stinging hairs that can cause extreme pain and severe contact dermatitis if touched, making Mala Mujer (bad woman) a good plant to avoid.
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: Cnidoscolus Pohl – cnidoscolus
Species: Cnidoscolus angustidens Torr. – mala mujer
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