Host an Event Volunteer Join Tickets

Support the plant database you love!

Share

Plant Database

Search for native plants by scientific name, common name or family. If you are not sure what you are looking for, try the Combination Search or our Recommended Species lists.

Enter a Plant Name:
Or you can choose a plant family:
Chamaesyce albomarginata (Whitemargin sandmat)
Wilson, John

Chamaesyce albomarginata

Chamaesyce albomarginata (Torr. & A. Gray) Small

Whitemargin Sandmat, Rattlesnake-weed

Euphorbiaceae (Spurge Family)

Synonym(s): Euphorbia albomarginata

USDA Symbol: CHAL11

USDA Native Status: L48 (N), HI (I)

Dense, thin mats of small, roundish opposite leaves and slender stems have milky sap, and have many tiny white flower-like cups.

One of the showiest of the low spurges, it was once thought useful for treatment of snakebite; hence its common name. The cup-like structure has many simple flowers: those producing pollen have only 1 stamen; those producing seeds consist of just an ovary. Around the edge of the cup are several glands which may or may not have petal-like appendages. The entire structure mimics a single flower, whose structure is typical of many species of Euphorbia.

 

From the Image Gallery

10 photo(s) available in the Image Gallery

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial
Habit: Herb
Fruit Type: Capsule
Size Notes: Stems prostrate, sometimes mat-forming, up to about 32 inches long.

Bloom Information

Bloom Color: White , Red
Bloom Time: Jan , Feb , Mar , Apr , May , Jun , Jul , Aug , Sep , Oct , Nov , Dec

Distribution

USA: AZ , CA , HI , LA , NM , NV , OK , TX , UT
Native Distribution: Southeastern California and southern Utah to Oklahoma; south to Mexico.
Native Habitat: Open areas in deserts, arid grassland, and pinon and juniper woodland.

Web Reference

Webref 38 - Flora of North America (2019) Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
Webref 23 - Southwest Environmental Information Network (2009) SEINet - Arizona Chapter

Additional resources

USDA: Find Chamaesyce albomarginata in USDA Plants
FNA: Find Chamaesyce albomarginata in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Chamaesyce albomarginata

Metadata

Record Modified: 2023-04-03
Research By: TWC Staff

Go back