PlantFiles: Creeping Spurge, Donkey Tail, Myrtle Spurge
Euphorbia myrsinites

I was given a couple of these in the fall of last year by a friend, who described them as a self-seeding foliage plant. I wasn't sure if they would establish themselves enough to make it through the winter, since I was planting them so late. I was pleased to see this spring that they not only started growing, but even had small yellow flowers, which developed little orange centers! (I hadn't looked at all the photos on this site yet, so I wasn't expecting flowers.) The shape of the leaves does add interest to the garden. When I was planting them, I did handle the outer surfaces of the plants, but no sap since nothing broke. No allergic reactions so far, but as far as I can remember, my friend and I have not come in contact with the sap yet.

WARNING: do not plant this plant and remove all from your yard. My kids were playing outside in our maturely landscaped yard. Playing make believe they picked this plant and used it for play. The next morning my son woke up, his eyes swollen almost shut, face swollen and completely red with exception to creases around his nose, large blisters on his chin, forehead and cheeks. We thought he was having an allergic reaction to a plant....it really was a severe contact dermatitis. Please see above posting for how to remove it and please do not plant it!! It is listed as a noxious weed.

ok, i can understand how people can say that this plant is invasive but here in my yard in Holland MA i would not consider it invasive. Maybe because the majority of the land here is hard soil , clay soil with sand. i dont know. It has taken over 8 years for this plant to produce a few small colonies of maybe 5-6 plants each. They are easy to dig up and remove. i have had that milky substance on my hands and even went without washing my hands for a few hours. I did not know about the threat it has. But im starting to wonder if people are just allergic to it and im not? ive handled this plant many times bare handed and had no problem. watch...now that i said it.... NOOO...not gonna go there. I do love the look of this plant. it can easily be dead headed, though, i have never done it. I welcome its odd foliage in my gardens. If its legal in your state, ive got some to trade. melissa

I love this plant a lot less today.

It was always the first to bloom (in Feb!) and stayed very attractive and interesting all year round...BUT in the last 24 hours I had to go to emergency hospital TWICE, after clipping the flowers back.

After washing my hands of the sticky sap, I must have rubbed my eye and it immediately started to sting and burn and water profusely. By the afternoon I was in excrutiating pain In the emergency room, they numbed my eye and irrigated it, then sent me home with antibiotic drops.

The pain became worse after 8 hours, spreading to my other eye, nose and sinuses and, blinded, I was driven again to the hospital for pain relief, numbing drops and finally vicodin. They said my corneas were damaged and sent me to an opthamologist. He said the plant has corrosive chemicals in it and had burned my eyes and eyelids. My face where the first tears came down is all burned and peeling.

No wonder the deer don't eat it. I don't know if I'll get rid of this plant, but I'll definately wear a HAZ MAT suit when trimming it!

I purchased this plant at a local garden center last spring. It did not have an identification tag. I have enjoyed it immensely. BUT, yesterday I picked off a few stems. A milky substance dripped on my hands. I immediately washed my hands thoroughly! Later in the day I felt like I have a jalapeño burn on my lips. Several hours later my whole face was on fire! Today I look like and feel like I have been burnt. I know I did not rub this stuff on all over my face. This stuff is treacherous. It took me a few hours to research this plant. I think I will be more careful in my new plant choice in the future. I plan on telling the local garden center what I found. This is a great web site. ...glad I found it.

A friend gave me a small E. myrsinites to plant in an area under a porch roof in complete shade to cover a low, poorly constructed concrete wall. It did this job amazingly well in spite of the fact it is not mat-forming. It flowers and probably does produce seeds but I have never seen one. We get gale-force winds here in the coastal area of southern B.C. so I frequently have to untangle its branches. I never knew that this was harmful to skin because I never suffered any ill-effects. If the wind did break or damage a stem, I just cut it back. I love the colour and the unusualness of this plant and was sorry to learn it was such a 'weed' elsewhere.

Myrtle Spurge is not native to Colorado, but was brought here for ornamental planting.

According to the Adams County Parks Department, Myrtle Spurge is growing aggressively across Colorado. However, it is ILLEGAL to have it, so if it is in your yard, you are REQUIRED BY LAW to remove it.

To get rid of it you should dig it up and put in a plastic bag to avoid spreading seed and put it the trash. You can also kill Myrtle Spurge by spraying with 2, 4 – D. You should wear gloves, long sleeves and long pants while working around the weed.

You should not cut Myrtle Spurge with a lawnmower because it spreads the seeds."

This plant should not be available for sale in Colorado. It is a primary noxious weed.

Please, please, do not plant this horrible invasive weed in Utah. This stuff is ruining the foothills along the Wasatch Front. It takes over entire hillsides choking out our wonderful native foliage. If you have it in your yard, rip it out today. It will soon be too late to stop this environmental disaster.

Colorado Class A Noxious Weed. Mandatory eradication.
All locations of this plant in Colorado should be immediately reported to the Colorado Department of Agriculture.

I ALSO LIVE IN THE OKANAGAN VALLEY OF B.C., INTERESTING PLANT TO VIEW .MADE THE ERROR OF NOT CUTTING OFF THE FLOWER HEADS ONE YEAR,MASSIVE SELF SEEDER ,BE CAREFUL.SEEDLINGS THOUGH ARE EASY TO CONTROL.

I am a Weed Specialist in Colorado and this plant is a disaster. It is now one of the top proiroties on the State of Colorado Noxious Weed List for eradication. It is highly toxic, invasive, and illegal. Please don't market this plant to folks in the western US!

I have grown this plant in the southern interior of BC (zone 4) on the sunny south side of my house. It grows extremely fast and requires little or no upkeep. It is a great ground cover for hot/dry locations.

We have it growing in partial shade in a very dry bed full of Maple roots and find it very well behaved.
In fact anything that can survive here would be welcome to be invasive.
After 3 years it has only spread about 1 foot w/o dead heading.

In SE Michigan - makes a great addition to a dry, sunny spot. Has not been invasive for me - but I trim the flowers before they go to seed. It is low growing and would be great for a rock garden too.

Previous comments have noted the toxcity. Note that we all may have different sensitivities. BE CAREFUL WITH THIS PLANT. I had a severe reaction after cutting some of the plants. I washed my hands immediately afterwards but then used a paper towel to dry my hands. Then I used the same towel to wipe the sweat from my face and forehead. My first symptoms (in about two hours) were burning lips and tongue (like I'd eaten a spicy meal). Within four hours the underside of my nose was painful to the touch. By the next morning my face was numb and swollen. Within the next day these facial areas began peeling like I had a bad sunburn. Reports in Colorado actually indicate that school kids have learned that they can get out of school by rubbing some of the plant's latex material on their face! Some have ended up in emergency rooms and/or burn units.

This is a beautiful plant. However, the milky sap causes quite a nasty dermatitis. I came in contact with some this afternoon and must have touched my face because I am developing painful blisters. This has been reported on other web sites. Also, the plant is toxic if ingested. So wear gloves if handling this plant and if you get any sap on your hands, wash them immediately.

I have seen this plant be extremely invasive. It completely overtook my neighbors garden and in such large numbers the plant is not very attractive. If you have the plant, work hard to contain it so this doesn't happen to you.

Also called Donkey tail spurge,Creeping spurge.
Be very careful of the milky white sap that oozes out of a cut Euphorbia stem, as it is poisonous.
Protect open wounds and eyes.
Skin irritation minor or lasting only for a few minutes. Redness, swelling, blisters after some delay following contact with skin. Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea when ingested.