Peking spurge is a perennial wildflower of China, Korea, and Japan that isn't known to grow wild in the US. Its root is used in traditional Chinese medicine as da ji (大戟), but all parts of the plant are poisonous.
Appearance
- Growth form
- A perennial herb about 1–2½ ft (30–80 cm) tall. Broken stems and leaves ooze white, milky sap.
- Leaves
- Narrow, lance-shaped, stalkless leaves alternate up the stem; at the top, a ring of five leaves sits below the flower branches.
- Flowers
- Small yellow-green flower clusters cupped in leafy sit at the tips of branches that spread out like umbrella spokes from the top of the stem.
- Flowering time
- June to August in its native range.
- Fruit
- A flattened, round capsule covered in small wart-like bumps.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- Hillsides
- Fields
- Wet meadows
- Range
- Native to China, Korea, and Japan. In Korea it grows on hillsides and in fields; in Japan, on sunny waste ground, field edges, and wetlands. There are almost no records of it in the US.
Cautions
- Cautions
- All parts of the plant are poisonous.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
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