spurge

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spurge

(spûrj)

Any of numerous herbs, shrubs, or trees of the genus Euphorbia, characteristically having milky juice and a cluster of small unisexual flowers that are surrounded by a cuplike structure composed of fused bracts. Also called euphorbia.

[Middle English, from Old French espurge, from espurgier, to purge (from its use as a purgative), from Latin expūrgāre; see expurgate.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

spurge

(spɜːdʒ)

(Plants) any of various euphorbiaceous plants of the genus Euphorbia that have milky sap and small flowers typically surrounded by conspicuous bracts. Some species have purgative properties

[C14: from Old French espurge, from espurgier to purge, from Latin expurgāre to cleanse, from ex-¹ + purgāre to purge]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

spurge

(spɜrdʒ)

n.

any of numerous plants of the genus Euphorbia, having flowers with no petals or sepals.

[1350–1400; Middle English < Middle French espurge, n. derivative of espurgier to cleanse < Latin expurgāre. See ex-¹, purge]

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Noun

spurge - any of numerous plants of the genus Euphorbia; usually having milky often poisonous juice

Euphorbia, genus Euphorbia - type genus of the Euphorbiaceae: very large genus of diverse plants all having milky juice

caper spurge, Euphorbia lathyris, myrtle spurge, mole plant - poisonous Old World spurge; adventive in America; seeds yield a purgative oil

Euphorbia helioscopia, sun spurge, wartweed, wartwort, devil's milk - not unattractive European weed whose flowers turn toward the sun

devil's milk, Euphorbia peplus, petty spurge - an Old World spurge introduced as a weed in the eastern United States

Euphorbia caput-medusae, Euphorbia medusae, medusa's head - African dwarf succulent perennial shrub with numerous slender drooping branches

Euphorbia corollata, flowering spurge, tramp's spurge, wild spurge - common perennial United States spurge having showy white petallike bracts

Euphorbia marginata, ghost weed, snow-in-summer, snow-on-the-mountain - annual spurge of western United States having showy white-bracted flower clusters and very poisonous milk

cypress spurge, Euphorbia cyparissias - Old World perennial having foliage resembling cypress; naturalized as a weed in the United States

Euphorbia esula, leafy spurge, wolf's milk - tall European perennial naturalized and troublesome as a weed in eastern North America

Euphorbia hirsuta, hairy spurge - much-branched hirsute weed native to northeastern North America

Christmas flower, Christmas star, Euphorbia pulcherrima, lobster plant, Mexican flameleaf, poinsettia, painted leaf - tropical American plant having poisonous milk and showy tapering usually scarlet petallike leaves surrounding small yellow flowers

Euphorbia heterophylla, Japanese poinsettia, mole plant, paint leaf - showy poinsettia found from the southern United States to Peru

Euphorbia cyathophora, fire-on-the-mountain, Mexican fire plant, painted leaf - poinsettia of United States and eastern Mexico; often confused with Euphorbia heterophylla

Euphorbia amygdaloides, wood spurge - European perennial herb with greenish yellow terminal flower clusters

Euphorbia antisyphilitica, candelilla - wax-coated shrub of northern Mexico and southwestern United States

dwarf spurge, Euphorbia exigua - European erect or depressed annual weedy spurge adventive in northeastern United States

Euphorbia fulgens, scarlet plume - Mexican shrub often cultivated for its scarlet-bracted flowers

cactus euphorbia, Euphorbia ingens, naboom - small tree of dry open parts of southern Africa having erect angled branches suggesting candelabra

Christ plant, Christ thorn, Euphorbia milii, crown of thorns - somewhat climbing bushy spurge of Madagascar having long woody spiny stems with few leaves and flowers with scarlet bracts

Euphorbia dentata, toothed spurge - an annual weed of northeastern North America with dentate leaves

bush, shrub - a low woody perennial plant usually having several major stems

Translations

vortemælk

spurge

[spɜːdʒ] N → euforbio m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

spurge

n (Bot) → Wolfsmilch f; spurge laurel → Lorbeerseidelbast m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

spurge

[spɜːdʒ] n → euforbia

References in periodicals archive ?

Elfin Brangwain Spurge risks his life to travel to the goblin territory to deliver a precious artifact to the all-mighty goblin leader.

Anderson, M.T., and Eugene Yelchin. The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge

Joyce Burnham, via email A That looks like the caper spurge - it's a euphorbia whose seeds resemble capers but are, like the rest of the plant, poisonous.

ASK DIARMUID

Their job was to chow down on Canada thistle, leafy spurge, common tansy, common burdock, yellow toadflax and dandelions, while under the watch of a skilled shepherd and several herding horses and dogs.

Want to be a Goat Coordinator? Herea[euro][TM]s Your Chance

The only plant that is sometimes confused with purslane by the beginning naturalist is the mildly toxic prostrate spurge, which has a similar shape and growing pattern.

Eating purslane: it's a versatile, tasty plant that can be found almost anywhere

Dicots, on the other hand, are termed broadleaf weeds and include such plants as horse pursalane, spurge, garden spurge, dandelion, clover, ground ivy, knotweed and plantain.

How to get rid of weeds

Big spurge that will stand the squelch 6 I have been very impressed by euphorbias I've seen over the past few years but which should I choose?

Ask Carol..

One such weed in North America is leafy spurge, Euphorbia esula L.

Long term outcomes of population suppression of leafy spurge by insects in the mountain foothills of Northern Utah

Colombo, May 26 -- Sri Lanka is to formulate a new security plan for the country based on the current situation, especially it is understood because of the sudden spurge of violence and protest the country recently experience in Jaffna with horror and awe.

Formulate A New National Security Plan - President Maithri

Mrs York, by email AHONESTY and wood spurge (Euphorbia amygdaloides) look great together with magenta and lime-green flowers respectively.

" - Carol

Euphorbia amygdaloides, the wood spurge, creates splashes of vivid colour along our hedgerows.

GREEN, GOLD AND GLORIOUS; Either in a damp and shady spot or in the full glare of the sun, here's a special plant you can put to a hundred uses in the garden right now - the delightful euphorbia, which is the fourth largest genus of flowering plants

That sap and the plant's flowers -- not very showy and rarely appearing indoors -- put pencil cactus in the spurge family, along with more familiar houseplants such as poinsettia and crown-of-thorns.