Transformational Gardening

Leafy Spurge (Euphorbia esula): Images

Date	Location	Notes	Images
May 25, 2012	Southeastern, New Hampshire	I have been looking for Leafy Spurge ever since I found the similar Cypress Spurge (Euphorbia cyparissias) a few years ago. Leafy spurge is clearly much bigger and with much larger leaves. There is a rare hybrid of these two plants known as Euphorbia x pseudoesula. The leaf blades of the hybrid appear 35 mm long and 3 mm wide and a similar shape as Cypress Spurge leaves (narrow and linear). But the flowers are found in both a terminal cyme and in the leaf axils similar to Leafy Spurge. Some might categorize this plant as Russian Leafy Spurge (Slender Leafy Spurge) (Euphorbia virgata) because stem leaf blades are linear, greater than six times longer than wide and widest below the middle. However, some authors categorize Russian Leafy Spurge as a subspecies (Euphorbia esula ssp. tommasiniana), some categorize it s a variety (Euphorbia esula var. uralensis or Euphorbia esula var. orientalis) and some consider it a separate species (Euphorbia virgata). In addition, some authors recognize a hybrid between Euphorbia esula and Eurphorbia virgata and call that hybrid Euphorbia x pseudovirgata. Until the confusion is worked out, I will categorize this plant as Euphorbia esula and leave it to the botanists to figure it out. One interesting item I noticed when reading about the different varieties is that Leafy Spurge had its own newsletter called Leafy Spurge News.