About Euphorbia fendleri Torr. & A.Gray
Euphorbia fendleri Torr. & A.Gray, commonly known as Fendler's sandmat, is a species in the genus Euphorbia. It is native to most of the southwestern and central United States, as well as northern Mexico, where it grows in scrub and woodland habitats in desert and plateau regions. This plant forms mats or clumps, is reddish-green in color, and has crooked, creeping, hairless stems. Its leaves can be rounded, oval, or spade-shaped, have smooth edges, generally end in a pointed tip, and reach a maximum length of just over one centimeter. Its tiny inflorescence is a cyathium, which features white-edged, scalloped appendages surrounding the true flowers. A ring of 25 to 35 staminate flowers grows around a single pistillate flower. After development, the ovary of the pistillate flower enlarges into a lobed fruit that is roughly 2 millimeters long.
