Scientific name: Euphorbia paralias L.
Common name: Sea Spurge
Description
Habit: A hairless perennial, to 60 cm high.
Stems: Several erect and stout stems arising from a woody rootstock, with white latex.
Leaves: Entire, pale blue-green, fleshy and thick, crowded and overlapping, erect, 12-25 mm long and with the midrib scarcely visible below; oblong, blunt; lowest leaves alternate, those in inflorescence, opposite or whorled.
Flowers: Green, in compact terminal 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 short, slender points; round or kidney-shaped leafy bracts subtend and occur throughout this whole structure.
Fruits: A capsule, wrinkled, seeds pale grey, smooth.
Habitat: Sand-dunes.
Distribution: Very local.
Native status: Native
Of conservation interest: No