Stats

Lifespan: Perennial
Size: Small
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Mediterranean scrub
Range: Mediterranean Basin
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Seeds
Defense: Toxins
Status: Uncommon

About

This perennial herb grows in sandy coastal dunes and open disturbed fields. It ejects its three-lobed seeds into the air with an audible popping sound.

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Genus: Euphorbia
Species: Euphorbia terracina