Common Names: Fendler’s Sandmat, Fendler’s Spurge, Fendler’s Carpetweed, Fendler’s Euphorb
Synonyms: Euphorbia fendleri, Euphorbia fendleri var. typica
Taxonomy: Spurge (Euphorbiaceae)
Habit: perennial forb, herb
Size: Though stems may reach 8 inches in length, they are prostrate and the plant rarely exceeds 2 inches in height, the size of the mat is less than 1’
Flowers: white, red, yellow, green…tiny!
Bloom: Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov
Leaves: opposite and pointed
Fruit: capsule
Description:
This is a small mat or clump forming reddish-green plant with a crooked, creeping, hairless stem. The leaves are rounded, oval, or spade-shaped, smooth along the edges and generally coming to a point, and not much more than one centimeter in maximum length. One flower-like structure (cyathium) is produced from each leaf node. The tiny inflorescence is a cyathium with white-edged, scalloped appendages surrounding the actual flowers. There is a ring of 25 to 35 staminate flowers around one pistillate flower. The ovary of the pistillate flower enlarges into a lobed fruit about 2 millimeters long. This plant is often pollinated by ants as you can see in the photo. Ant pollination (myrmecophily) occurs more often with flowers that are low growing and inconspicuous.
Distribution: AZ, CA, CO, KS, NE, NM, NV, OK, SD, TX, UT, WY
Seen: NV, Spring Mountains
Habitat: Mountain slopes, desert scrub, pinyon-juniper woodlands, hills, canyons, grasslands, washes, roadsides, dry crevices in limestone, often in gravel and sand; 1500-8500’ (500–2600 m)
