Meanings
- uncountableA prostrate, annual spurge, native to North America and an invasive species throughout the rest of the world, of species Euphorbia maculata.
Spotted spurge can grow well in slightly dry, gravelly, or sandy soils. It doesn't grow in shade; therefore, the dense canopy of an intensively planted garden bed helps inhibit growth of any spotted spurge that germinates later in the season.
2001 January 1, Jill Jesiolowski Cebenko, Deborah L. Martin, “Spotted Spurge (Euphorbia maculata)”, in Insect, Disease & Weed I.D. Guide: Find-it-fast Organic Solutions for Your Garden, Rodale, →ISBN, page 227Synonyms: prostrate spurge, spotted sandmat
- uncountableAn erect, annual spurge, native to North and Central America and an invasive species in Europe, Japan, and New Zealand, of species Euphorbia nutans.
1 more example
One always thinks of the plant as a companion of the pursley, but pursley can be eaten by man, and hogs thrive on it. Nothing eats spotted spurge. The spurges are all poisonous to a greater or less degree, and this one is fit only to hoe into the ground where it soon mixes forever with the elements, and where the cultivated plants soon send their roots abroad to pierce its mould.
2013 July 24, Edwin R. Spencer, All About Weeds, Courier Corporation, →ISBN, page 149Synonyms: nodding spurge, milk purslane
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA prostrate, annual spurge, native to North America and an invasive species throughout the rest of the world, of species Euphorbia maculata.
nounAn erect, annual spurge, native to North and Central America and an invasive species in Europe, Japan, and New Zealand, of species Euphorbia nutans.
Translations
Finnish täplätyräkki
- täplätyräkkiEuphorbia maculata
French euphorbe maculée
- euphorbe maculéeEuphorbia maculata
German Gefleckte Wolfsmilch
- Gefleckte WolfsmilchEuphorbia maculata
Russian молочай пятнистый
- молочай пятнистый (moločaj pjatnistyj)Euphorbia maculata
Swedish fläcktörel
- fläcktörelEuphorbia maculata
Welsh llaethlys brych
- llaethlys brychEuphorbia maculata
Cite this entry
spotted spurge. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spotted%20spurge
“spotted spurge.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spotted%20spurge. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “spotted spurge,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spotted%20spurge.
Source: spotted spurge on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.