Scientific name: Euphorbia portlandica L.
Common name: Portland Spurge
Description
Habit: A hairless biennial to perennial, to 40 cm high.
Stems: Erect, with a slender rootstock, with white latex.
Leaves: Entire, pale blue-green, fleshy and thick, scarcely crowded and overlapping, semi-erect, 12-25 mm long and with the midrib prominent below; broadest above the middle, tip with a short point; lowest leaves alternate, those in inflorescence opposite or whorled.
Flowers: Green, in diffuse umbels with 3-7 main branches; the inflorescence comprises 1 female flower (a 3-celled ovary and 3 styles) surrounded by few male flowers (with a single stamen) and is surrounded by a ring of minute, scale-like bracts and thickened yellowish glands, which are the most conspicuous part of the inflorescence and are crescent shaped with long, slender points; round or kidney-shaped leafy bracts subtend and occur throughout this whole structure.
Fruits: A capsule, wrinkled, seeds dark and pitted.
Habitat: Sand-dunes, shingle beaches and maritime rocks.
Distribution: Very local.
Native status: Native
Of conservation interest: Yes