Euphorbia Species, Creeping Spurge, Donkey Tail, Myrtle Spurge

I have this in my rock garden where it can get a bit thuggish if you let it. I haven't found it to be disturbingly invasive - it has spre...Read Moread around the immediate vicinity. I will use care in the future when I'm jerking out the extras, but I've never had a skin problem with this one and I'm highly allergic to poison ivy.

Last fall, I volunteered at the local woman's shelter and took home a little plant that was struggling. I told them I would overwinter it...Read More and would replant it if it looked like a keeper. It took off with a little care in my sidewalk bed and flopped over half the width of the sidewalk. I decided to trim it back about a month ago and broke off half the stems with my bare hands. No reaction. Reading all these reports makes me realize I was very fortunate. I'm not pulling the whole plant but will watch it carefully and likely move it to a less traveled area. I do have grands... and no, I'm not returning it to the shelter as there are often kids staying there.

I use this plant extensively in my own sandy soil by a lake in central Oklahoma. I also planted it in a raised planter on the highway wh...Read Moreere we have a sign for the lake. We have to carry water to the planter and because of that it is ideal as it survives our dry hot heat. I have a large rock, some day lillies and the spurge in the top layer of the 4 by 8 planter. The bluegreen color reminds me of the color I wish our lake was but since this is Oklahoma, that's not happening. The center does seem to die back every year and I simply break off a few pieces on the edge and stick them in the ground where needed and they fill in the empty space in no time. I usually don't wear gloves and have never had any dermatitis from the plant. I am allergic to poison ivy so I do not have a strong immune system to plant life. I will tell my grandchildren to be careful around it from now on since I read all the horrible results some people are having.

Please be WARNED!! The toxins are so real. I had this plant growing along the edge of my pond and trimmed it. My 30, 13+ year old fis...Read Moreh were all dead this morning. It only took 12 hours to kill every one of them!! I had no idea this could happen. That plant has been growing there for years but of course this year it was just bigger. Please DO NOT USE THIS PLANT. So sad and heartbroken!!

I have quite a bit of this growing in my flower beds. On the positive note, it does grow anywhere...I have a lot of terrible dry soil und...Read Moreer a Juniper tree and its great there. The bad part is its horrific if you get the sap on you. I knew the risks and still trimmed it back yesterday, paying special attention to not getting sap on me. I came in the house afterwards, and washed up very very good, on my arms and hands. About 2 hours later, my face felt on fire. I neglected to recall I had touched my face while working outside and now I feel like I have a bad sunburn. Hurts to touch. Woke up this morning and my face is really swollen in areas. Learned my lesson the hard way. Not sure if I should get rid of it completely..because it was at my own hand that I let it get to me. So ....just a warning for you out there wanting one of these. Do not have if you have small kids. Its a toxic beauty.

I am chiming in from West Jordan UT. We have this awful ground cover in our yard. The lady that lived here before us, planted it, beca...Read Moreuse I am sure that is so pretty and nice to look at.

We really liked it too, until My Husband had to go to the emergency room one night, because his eye were so inflamed and burning, that the Doctor had to irrigate his eyes and put medicine in them.

I just got a small amount of sap on my eye and it was burning like crazy. This stuff does grow like a weed, and will take over.

Now we are faced with the task of getting this stuff out of our yard.

Here in Southern Ontario, Canada, I've come to expect this plant to be somewhat invasive, seeding itself easily, but for years have toler...Read Moreated a few plants for their looks. Yesterday I pinched back the stems with bare hands on one plant with no problems. Today I did the same on another plant and even tho I washed the sap off my hands with soap and water as plain water didn't budge the gummy stuff, I must have gotten some in my eye. My eye has been burning for a couple hours now and my nose is running and also burning. I've rinsed my eye with cold water and used antihistamine drops with little relief. I hope I don't have to get further medical treatment. When this is over, the plants are all going to be pulled up and put in the garbage. This is no fun!

When I first got this plant I loved it. I now know it's horrible. Spreads everywhere, gives me an itchy unsightly rash, and looks horribl...Read Moree after seeding. Don't do it. EVER. Hard to get rid of because it can be so prolific. Although seeds are heavy, the plant pops them in the air on breezy days and they go flying!!! First plant I really hate, and I grow a lot of things people generally don't like....!

This plant is awful. Do not be tantalized by it's ease of growth and interesting look.

First, the infestation. Here in Ut...Read Moreah, it takes over entire slopes and kills other plants. Last year I pulled enough to fill 30 lawn bags, turning my steep backyard into a naked pile of dirt. Finally this spring I see just a few natives starting to reclaim the ground they lost. I don't know anyone here who has easily controlled this plant in their yard.

Second, the sap. Even in states where it's easier to control, I have heard of very few gardeners who enjoy the rash. I had to go home sick from work once because the sap got on my hands and then somehow my face while I was weeding. If it gets in your eye, the infection can be critical.

My department of ag gave me some control pointers. You can pull them (get at least 4" of root on mature plants) or use herbicide. Round-up worked very well for me. Either way, you have to vigilantly destroy new sprouts for a few years.The plant bursts its seeds each summer, spreading them as far as 14 feet around the parent.

Because of the many warnings about the sap I did wear gloves and had the trash bag at my side. I disposed of the cut back plant but some ...Read Moresap obviously must have fallen on other nearby plants I was trimming.

My eye is inflamed, my cheek is hot and it does extend to my ear and my lips. Clearly with the heat of the day and via sweating the tiny portion of sap has caused these problems.

I would avoid the plant completely.

Absolutely **erradicate** this weed but think twice about doing it by hand. I'm going to use pesticide.

While trying to r...Read Moreemove this noxious weed I must have gotten a small amount of sap on my forehead which sweat brought down to my eye.This is probably the 3rd most pain I have ever felt.

I had taken several precautions as I knew the plant's sap was quite venomous. Head covering, gloves, eyewear, etc.

I am glad I did not get more and prolonged exposure as my eyelid is on fire and to a lesser amount my outer eye. After an eyewash and drops the pain is really only minimally better. My cornea seems fine. I am not really swelling although my nose did begin to run a bit.

I will have to head into ER if this is going to persist.

We have a lot of this. IAs I understand from the neighbor, it was planted to save the back hill from erosion by the previous owner. It is a beautiful plant but treat it extreme care and do not allow it to grow. I can't imagine what would happen with a child, someone of lesser health or even more extreme exposure to me with this dangerous plant.

THIS PLANT IS A LIST-A NOXIOUS INVASIVE WEED IN COLORADO AND IS STATE MANDATED FOR ERADICATION. IT IS ILLEAGAL TO SELL OR CULTIVATE THIS ...Read MorePLANT IN THE STATE OF COLORADO. HAVING THIS PLANT ON YOUR PROPERTY CAN POTENTIALLY LEAD TO FINES EXCEEDING 1000$. REGARDLESS OF WHICH STATE YOU LIVE IN I HIGHLY SUGGEST THAT NO ONE OBTAIN THIS PLANT, AND WHENEVER POSSIBLE IT SHOULD BE REMOVED AND BAGGED.

I bought a small plant on Saturday and dropped it home before continuing my shopping. I know I touched the plant, although there wasn't ...Read Moreany sap leaking from it. During my shopping, my left cheek started to itch and I later broke out into a small rash on that side. it seems I may have been fortunate to get away with so little!

I'm still new at growing things and I like to buy different plants to experiment with (ie, see if they can survive ME) so I'm going to see if the nursery will exchange this for something else.

Thanks for the info from other posters, very helpful.

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...Read More 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 m...Read Moreake 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. ...Read MoreMaybe 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 interestin...Read Moreg 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, y...Read Moreesterday 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 concre...Read Morete 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 Park...Read Mores 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...Read More 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 th...Read Moree 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,MASSI...Read MoreVE 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 Wee...Read Mored 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...Read More 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...Read More 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 se...Read Moreed. 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...Read More 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 ...Read Morehave 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...Read More 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 ...Read Moreit 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.