Common Name: myrtle spurge
Type: Herbaceous perennial
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Native Range: Southern Europe, Asia Minor
Zone: 5 to 9
Height: 0.50 to 1.00 feet
Spread: 0.50 to 1.00 feet
Bloom Time: March to April
Bloom Description: Yellow bracts
Sun: Full sun
Water: Dry
Maintenance: Medium
Flower: Showy
Leaf: Colorful
Tolerate: Rabbit, Deer, Drought, Dry Soil, Shallow-Rocky Soil, Air Pollution
Culture
Best grown in dry, well-drained soils in full sun. Quite tolerant of poor soils, including rocky, sandy ones. Freely self-seeds. Promptly remove spent flowers to prevent any unwanted self-seeding. Evergreen, but foliage decline usually occurs in cold winter climates, especially when exposed to wind. Tends to be shorter lived in warm winter climates.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Euphorbia myrsinites, sometimes commonly called myrtle euphorbia or donkeytail spurge, is an evergreen perennial which typically grows 4-8" tall on ascending to trailing stems rising at the tips. Stems grow from a prostrate woody base. Oval, blue-green, fleshy, succulent-like leaves are arranged in close spirals around the stems. Non-showy greenish flowers subtended by showy yellow bracts bloom in spring.
Genus name probably honors Euphorbus, physician to the King of Mauretania.
Specific epithet is in reference to the purported similarity of this plant to plants in the genus Myrsine.
Problems
No serious insect or disease problems.
Uses
Border fronts. Rock gardens. Sprawl over stone walls.