Sun Spurge / Erba calenzuola / Mlječika suncogled

Description:

It is an annual plant growing in arable land and disturbed ground. It grows to 10 - 50 cm tall, with a single, erect, hairless stem, branching toward the top. The leaves are oval, broadest near the tip, 1.5 - 3 cm long, with a finely toothed margin. The flowers are small, yellow-green, with two to five basal bracts similar to the leaves but yellower; flowering lasts from mid spring to late summer

Habitat:

Native to most of Europe, northern Africa, and eastward through most of Asia. Common plant on maedows.

Notes:

Other old folk names: wart spurge, umbrella milkweed, "madwoman's milk". It is highly poisonous. Active ingredients are extracted from it for use in pharmaceutical industry. It is also a plant used in the Chinese traditional medicine.