leafy spurge

IUCN Red List

not yet assessed

NatureServe

NNA - Not applicable

SNA - Not applicable

Minnesota

not listed

SN – State noxious weed

PS – State prohibited weed seed

See Subordinate Taxa (below) for identifying information.

Taxonomy
There is considerable disagreement as to the proper classification of the species and subordinate taxa of leafy spurge.

The Plant List³⁶ identifies one variety and two subspecies, including Euphorbia esula subsp. tommasiniana.

GRIN³⁸ lists two subspecies, including Euphorbia esula subsp. tommasiniana, and a subspecies-level hybrid (nothosubsp).

USDA PLANTS³ lists two subspecies, the nominate subspecies and Euphorbia esula var. uralensis.

ITIS³⁷, the first authority I look to for taxonomic nomenclature, considers all subspecies and varieties invalid synonyms of Euphorbia esula.

The Minnesota DNR (MNTaxa²⁸) is not a taxonomic authority but its opinion matters to Minnesotans who research native plants. MNTaxa lists Euphorbia esula with no subspecies but it also lists Euphorbia virgata (Russian leafy spurge).

Chadde⁶² lists only Euphorbia virgata (leafy spurge).

By the way, am I the only one that finds the Tree of Life³¹ project virtually unusable? No species search? Really? This is on a site whose "goal is to contain a page with pictures, text, and other information for every species and for each group of organisms, living or extinct."

leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula var. esula)

Russian leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula var. uralensis)

Plant

Inflorescence