Glade Spurge

Euphorbia purpurea

Found in moist forests; floodplain and bottomland forests; glades, barrens and outcrops on mafic or serpentine rock; glades, barrens and outcrops on limestone; swamps; seeps and springs. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you

Strong

Native to West Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 94%

Height: Up to about 4 feet
Light: Partial shade, Full shade, Full sun
Soil moisture: Moist to wet

Will it fit your yard?

Euphorbia purpurea — flower photograph — (c) willingarden, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY 4.0 · Original photograph

Rare or protected plant. Specialist conservation planting; excluded from routine garden suggestions. Plant caution source

Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.

At a glance

Life cycle: Perennial
Bloom: May to September

JFMAMJJASOND

Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves

Recorded in 3 West Virginia counties.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 6

Harvey Joiner, Woods Scene: tall beeches in a moist Kentucky woodland, light falling through a closed canopy onto a damp forest floor. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. Shown: Kentucky beech woods (Harvey Joiner, Louisville painter of Kentucky beech forests; the painting does not name the site), a neighboring state.Woods Scene, Harvey Joiner, c. 1880-1920. Public domain. Source record.

William McIlvaine, The Chickahominy Swamp (1862): wind-tossed swamp trees standing in dark water under a storm. Shown: Chickahominy Swamp, Virginia, a neighboring state.The Chickahominy Swamp LCCN2004661405, William McIlvaine (1813-1867), 1862. Public domain. Source record.

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.

Glades, barrens and outcrops on mafic or serpentine rock

Open, thin-soil openings, outcrops and cliffs on dark, magnesium- or iron-rich rock such as serpentine, diabase or gabbro.

Glades, barrens and outcrops on limestone

Open, thin-soil openings and rock on limestone, dolomite or other lime-rich rock, including cedar glades.

Seeps and springs

Places where groundwater keeps the soil or rock wet, such as seepage slopes and spring runs.

All habitats

Also found with this plant

Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in West Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 78 animals.

Brown-headed Cowbird
Molothrus ater
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Eurasian Collared-dove
Streptopelia decaocto
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Fish Crow
Corvus ossifragus
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Contopus cooperi
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Prothonotary Warbler
Protonotaria citrea
Birds. 1 shared habitat
White-winged Crossbill
Loxia leucoptera
Birds. 1 shared habitat

Widespread birds also seen here (38)

Found in many habitats here, so not listed above.

All wildlife of West Virginia

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

7CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including WV

Genus host records with ranges including WV · Euphorbia

Automeris ioIo Moth
Episimus argutanaSumac Leaftier
Eudryas unioPearly Wood-Nymph
Eutrapela clematariaCurved-Tooth Geometer, Purplish Brown Looper
Hypercompe scriboniaGiant Leopard Moth, Great Leopard Moth
Lobocleta plemyrariaStraight-Lined Wave
Sparganothis sulfureanaSparganothis Fruitworm Moth, Sulfur Leafroller, False Yellow-Head

Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)

13BeesSoutheastern regional records

Southeastern regional records · Euphorbia

Individual names are not available yet.

Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0

0Specialist beesPollen specialists

7BirdsRecorded eating Euphorbia in West Virginia

Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Birds whose range includes West Virginia, most records first.