Baja Spurge
Euphorbia xanti
Family: Euphorbiaceae
This fast-growing, openly-branched, succulent, broom-like shrub grows 3 to 6 feet tall depending on location (exposure to cold temperatures), and spreads by rhizomes. The stems are photosynthetic. It almost looks like a giant baby’s breath flower. The “flowers” (actually these are bracts around a much more inconspicuous flower) appear in the winter and last into spring, an important time for pollinators as little else is blooming at that time.
Hardy to 25° F with only light tip damage. Grow in full to part sun, and moderate to low water with very good drainage. Frost can cause light damage, and some significant stem death will occur at 25°F, but this rapid-grower comes back pretty fast.
The fragrant flowers attract loads of bees and butterflies.
The common name "spurge" derives from the Middle English/Old French espurge ("to purge"), due to the use of the plant's sap as a purgative. The genus name, Euphorbia, derives from Euphorbos, the Greek physician of King Juba II of Numidia and Mauretania (52–50 BC – 23 AD), who married the daughter of Anthony and Cleopatra. He provided one of the first descriptions of some of the cacti-like euphorbias. The species name, xanti, was chosen to honor Xantus. In ancient Greek mythology, Xanthus was a river god with golden hair who fought alongside the Greeks in the Trojan War.
It is native to sea bluffs, dunes, rocky washes and slopes in central to southern Baja California and coastal Sonora.
Plants can get very tall in frost free locations, photo by Liliana Ortiz Serrato, iNaturalist
The flowers of this plant occur in winter when not a lot of other things are blooming, photo by Cristian A. D. Meling L., iNaturalist
Flowers with a developing fruit, photo by Sue Carnahan, iNaturalist