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Flowering spurge "flowers" are deployed in an open, flat-topped inflorescence (panicle); individual "flowers" are 1/4-3/8" across, a cup-like, five-lobed cyathium (unique to euphorbs) containing the five white "petals" (actually white bracts), a green ring of nectar glands around the base of the "petals," and the stamens or styles. Male flowering spurge cyathia have three stamens, each with a white filament and a yellow anther; female flowering spurge cyathia have both an ovary with a tripartite style with six stigmas, and three (sterile?) stamens. (If you're confused about the architecture of cyathia, see seaside sandmat (Euphorbia polygonifolia) for a clearer example.) After fertilization, the fruit develops as a unmistakable three-celled, bulbous green capsule on a short stalk in the middle of the original flower with the remnants of the style at its tip.

Euphorbia

Euphorbia corollata

flowering spurge [Blooms: Jun-Oct]

Seaside sandmat cyathia (cup-like reproductive structures typical of euphorbs) develop between pairs of leaves, typically one cyathium with a short reddish stalk per pair of leaves. On the rim of the cyathium are four to six red nectar glands; each nectar gland alternates with a narrow, elongate lobe. In the center of the cyathium is a female flower with a three-lobed, light green ovary topped by a tripartite style; the flower sits on a stout pedicel that elongates and curves as it matures. Between the central female flower and the rim of the cyathium are several male flowers, each consisting of a single stamen. Seaside sandmat prefers beach habitats around the Great Lakes and along the Atlantic coast.

Euphorbia

Euphorbia polygonifolia

seaside sandmat [Blooms: Jul-Sep]