Milkweed

Family: Euphorbiaceae
Scientific name: Euphorbia heterophylla
Description: Plant Form: Upright annual herb. Size: Up to 80 cm tall. Stem: Smooth, hairless or sometimes hairy. Green, containing a milky sap. Leaves: Variable, oval or egg-shaped to lance-shaped with a pointed tip. Hairless or somewhat hairy, with smooth to slightly toothed edges. Near the flowers the leaves can have whitish patches or splotches. Flowers: Inconspicuous tiny cup-like containing multiple male and 1 female flower. In dense clusters at the tips of branches. Fruit and Seeds: Capsules with 3 lobes, each containing 1 oval-shaped and brownish or mottled-grey seed. Habitat: Old gardens, roadsides, waste areas, riparian areas, urban bushland. Distinguishing Features: Distinguished from Painted spurge (Euphorbia heterophylla) by having white rather than coloured markings on leaves surrounding flowers, and Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) by being herbaceous rather than woody. Weed Status: Other Weed Weed Type: Common Lifeform: Herbaceous

Example images for this weed