About Euphorbia misera Benth.
Euphorbia misera Benth. is a drought-deciduous shrub that grows either erect or mounding. When its leaves or branches are cut or ruptured, it releases an acrid, milky sap. It produces small, rounded, hairy leaves, and inflorescences grow at the tips of its branches. Its distinctive flower has a central nectar disc with a bright red scalloped-edged appendage and a light yellow fringe. Its fruit is a spherical, lobed capsule that holds round, wrinkled gray seeds. Most of this plant is covered in very fine hairs, with the exception of its stems. Stems are soft, rubbery, stout, often gnarled, and covered in light gray bark; they can reach 5–10 decimetres (1.6–3.3 ft) in length. Branches are semi-succulent and flexible. The hairy (pubescent) leaves are stalked (petioled), growing on short lateral spurs arranged along stems. Leaves measure 0.4–1.5 centimetres (0.16–0.59 in) long, are ovate to round in shape, more or less folded, and have smooth entire margins. Leaf bases are obtuse to rounded, and leaf tips are rounded. Stipules are thread-like and fringed. The inflorescence is a cyathium, a structure that resembles a typical single flower; usually one cyathium grows at a branch tip, and sometimes they grow in upper leaf axils (distal axils). The involucre is 2–3 millimetres (0.079–0.118 in) long and bell-shaped. The cyathium has 5 maroon to yellow glands, measuring 1.5–2 millimetres (0.059–0.079 in) long, shaped transversely oblong or elliptic. White to light-yellow petal-like appendages attach to these glands; these appendages may be narrower or wider than the gland, and have scalloped or irregularly cut edges. Each cyathium contains 30 to 40 staminate flowers. Fruits measure 4–5 millimetres (0.16–0.20 in) long, are spherical and lobed, and are densely covered in fine hairs (puberulent) or become hairless (glabrous) over time. Seeds are 2.5–3 millimetres (0.098–0.118 in) long, ovoid, round in cross-section, white to gray in color, and wrinkled. This species is distributed across the Baja California peninsula (the Mexican states of Baja California and Baja California Sur), parts of Sonora in Mexico, and the coast of Southern California in the United States. On the Baja California peninsula, it is a common, widespread shrub found from the area around Tijuana in northwestern Baja California south to the southern Sierra de la Giganta in Baja California Sur, including on adjacent Pacific and Gulf of California islands. Populations on the San Benito Islands are sometimes classified as a separate species, Euphorbia benedicta, based on their larger gland appendages and larger seeds. In Sonora, the species occurs along the Gulf coast. In California, it grows on coastal bluffs and mesas from Corona Del Mar in Orange County to the US-Mexico international border in San Diego County, and also grows on Santa Cruz, Santa Catalina, and San Clemente islands. A separated disjunct population is located in the Coachella Valley of Riverside County. It grows on rocky slopes and soils, vertical cliff faces, and coastal bluffs. It is an abundant resident of coastal succulent scrub habitat in coastal California and Baja California, and can be found in habitats ranging from bluff margins and coastal mesas to full desert.
