Prostrate spurge
Euphorbia prostrata
Family · Euphorbiaceae · Poisonous
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This plant, or one that resembles it, is dangerous. Identifying is not authorising: no app has the authority to tell you that you may eat or touch a plant.
Emergency
The flat mat of tiny opposite leaves that grows in pavement cracks and flower beds. Break a stem and white latex comes out, and it is that latex which separates it from purslane, which is eaten.
Town and roadside · Walls and rocks · Fields and pasture · Roadsides and waste ground
Also known asprostrate sandmat
How to tell it
Thin reddish stems spread flat on the ground in a squashed rosette from a single central root. Small leaves, opposite in pairs, oval and finely toothed at the edge, often with a darker blotch. Break any part and WHITE LATEX comes out at once. Purslane, which is edible, has fleshy glossy leaves in a rosette, fat succulent stems, and releases no latex at all.
What it is confused with
Purslane
Portulaca oleracea
Fleshy glossy leaves, fat reddish stems, and NO latex when broken. A small yellow flower. Purslane is eaten; spurge is not.
What it is for
No use to recommend
The latex of all spurges irritates the skin and is dangerous in the eyes, where it causes intense conjunctivitis and can damage the cornea. If it reaches the eyes, rinse with plenty of water and seek medical help.
Where it occurs
Sources
Community
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