cliff spurge

Euphorbia misera is a drought-deciduous shrub standing erect or mounding. An acrid, milky sap is exuded when the leaves or branches are ruptured or cut. It has small, rounded, hairy leaves and inflorescences at the tips of the branches. The distinctive flower has a central nectar disc with a bright red appendage with scalloped edges and a light yellow fringe. The fruit is a spherical capsule with lobes containing round, wrinkled gray seeds.

Morphology. The majority of the plant is covered in very fine hairs, except for the stems. The stems are soft and rubbery, covered in a light gray bark, stout, and often gnarled. The stems may reach 5–10 decimetres (1.6–3.3 ft) in length. The branches are semi-succulent and flexible. The pubescent leaves are petioled, on short, lateral spurs placed in a lateral arrangement. The leaf is 0.4–1.5 centimetres (0.16–0.59 in) long, shaped ovate to round, and more or less folded, with entire margins. The base of the leaf is obtuse to rounded, and the tip is rounded. The stipules are thread-like and fringed. The inflorescence is a cyathium, (a structure that looks similar to a traditional flower) with usually a single cyathia at a branch tip or sometimes in the distal axils. The involucre is 2–3 millimetres (0.079–0.118 in) long and bell shaped. There are 5 glands on the cyathium, colored a maroon to yellow. …

This species is distributed across the Baja California peninsula (the states of Baja California, Baja California Sur) and parts of Sonora in Mexico, and the coast of Southern California in the United States. On the Baja California peninsula, this species is a common and widespread shrub found from the vicinity of Tijuana in northwest Baja California south to the southern Sierra de la Giganta in Baja California Sur, along with adjacent Pacific and Gulf of California islands. Plants found on the San Benito Islands have sometimes been regarded as their own species, Euphorbia benedicta, based on their larger gland appendages and seeds. In Sonora, this species is found on the Gulf coast. In California, this species can be found on coastal bluffs and mesas from Corona Del Mar in Orange County to the international border in San Diego County, along with Santa Cruz, Santa Catalina, and San Clemente islands. A disjunct population is found in the Coachella Valley of Riverside County. This species is found growing on rocky slopes and soils, vertical cliff faces, and coastal bluffs. It is an abundant resident of coastal succulent scrub habitat present in coastal California and Baja California. Habitats vary from bluff margins and coastal mesas to outright desert.