Crop Protection Online > Pests - Weed biology<br> <sub>Agro-region: Denmark</sub> - Euphorbia helioscopia L.

Crop Protection Online

26.4 2024

Weed biology
_{Agro-region: Denmark}

Euphorbia helioscopia L.

Can be mistaken for

Euphorbia peplus L., which has somewhat smaller dicotyledon leaves and true leaves.

Thlaspi arvense L., which has no latex.

Characteristics

Cotyledons
Oval with entire leaf margins. Stalked. Smooth surface. Length approx. 6-12 mm.

True leaves
Inverted egg-shaped with finely toothed leaf margins on the extreme parts of the leaf. Unstalked. Smooth surface. The true leaves contain latex, which can be seen by squeezing a torn-off leaf. Length approx. 8-11 mm.

Mature plant
Sun Spurge is a medium-sized, 10-40 cm high plant, which is known by the arrangement of the flowers in umbel-like inflorescences. The entire plant contains large amounts of latex. Seed production:Up to approx. 650 seeds per plant.

Seed
Egg-shaped to oval in circumference with a small tilted disc at one end. Circular cross section. Net-pitted surface. Thousand grain weight approx. 2.9 g.

Biology

Propagation and dispersal
Only through seeds.

Habit
Summer annual.

Importance

The species is found throughout Denmark, mainly in open and/or late-sown spring crops. Sun Spurge is usually among the less important weed species.

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Taxonomy

Euphorbiceae.

Names in different languages

Danish :	Vortemælk, skærm
German :	Sonnenwendwolfsmilch
English :	Sun Spurge
Latin :	Euphorbia helioscopia L.
Norwegian :	Åkervortemjølk
Swedish :	Revormstörel

Seedling

Early stage

Flower

Mature plant

Seeds

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Weed biology Agro-region: Denmark