''Euphorbia paralias'', the Sea Spurge, is a species of flowering plant in the family Euphorbiaceae, native to Europe, northern Africa and western Asia. The species is widely naturalised in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It invades coastal areas, displacing local species and colonising open sand areas favoured by certain nesting birds. Major eradication programs have been undertaken in some areas, for example by Sea Spurge Remote Area Teams in

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

, with great success.

Description

''E. paralias'' is an erect, glaucous,

perennial plant In horticulture, the term perennial (''wikt:per-#Prefix, per-'' + ''wikt:-ennial#Suffix, -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annual plant, annuals and biennial plant, biennials. It has thus been d ...

, growing up to tall. It has many stems, dividing into 3–5 fertile branches, each branching further. The cauline leaves (arising from the stem, without a stalk) are crowded, overlapping, elliptic-ovate (ovate toward the top of the stems), fleshy and long. Leaves on fertile branches are circular-rhombic or

reniform Reniform is an adjective meaning "kidney-shaped". It may refer to: * Reniform habit, a type of crystal shape * Reniform leaf, a plant leaf shape * Reniform seed, a plant seed shape * Reniform stigma, a spot on the wings of certain moths See ...

. The flower head is on a solitary

cyathium A cyathium (: cyathia) is one of the specialised Pseudanthium, pseudanthia ("false flowers") forming the inflorescence of plants in the genus ''Euphorbia'' (Euphorbiaceae). A cyathium consists of: * Five (rarely four) bracteoles. These are sm ...

, found in upper forks or at the apex, surrounded by bell-shaped bracts. Female flowers have styles that divide into two short stigmas, flowering from September to May. The fruit is a capsule, flattened from above or nearly spherical, with deep furrows, and wrinkled on keels. Seeds are ovoid, pale-grey and smooth. There is a kidney-shaped fleshy outgrowth from the seed coat.

Habitat

''E. paralias'' inhabits sandy sea-shores.

References

paralias Flora of Lebanon Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Flora of Malta Flora of the Mediterranean basin {{Euphorbia-stub