Weeds of Australia - Fact Sheet

Top Scientific Name Family Common Names Origin Naturalised Distribution Notes

Scientific Name

Euphorbia helioscopia L.

Family

Euphorbiaceae

Common Names

cat's milk, madwoman's milk, sun euphorbia, sun spurge, umbrella milkweed, wart spurge, wart weed, wartgrass, wartweed

Origin

Native to Northern Africa (i.e. Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia), the Azores, the Madeira Islands, the Canary Islands, Europe (i.e. Denmark, Finland, Ireland, the UK, Sweden, Norway, Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland, Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Ukraine, western Russia, Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Romania, Yugoslavia, France, Portugal and Spain), western Asia, the Indian Sub-continent (i.e. northern India and western Pakistan), China, Vietnam, Japan, Korea and Taiwan).

Naturalised Distribution

This species is widely naturalised in the southern parts of Australia (i.e. in some parts of southern Queensland, in southern and eastern New South Wales, in southern and western Victoria, in Tasmania, in south-eastern and southern South Australia, and in the coastal districts of south-western Western Australia).

Also widely naturalised in many other parts of the world including the USA, Chile, New Zealand and New Caledonia.

Notes

Sun spurge (Euphorbia helioscopia) is regarded as an environmental weed in Western Australia. It is most common as a weed of cultivated areas, but also invades natural habitats and occasionally even conservation areas (e.g. Para Wirra Recreation Park in South Australia).

Note: This species is poisonous to humans and livestock and its milky sap can cause dermatitis and eye irritation.