Tree spurge

A native shrub of the Riviera’s rocks that sheds its leaves in summer, then turns green and flowers yellow in winter and spring.

The tree spurge is a shrub reaching 2–3 m, with thick, forked stems, forming dense, dome-shaped clumps. Unlike most plants it sheds its leaves at the start of the dry summer, first turning red, and greens up again after the autumn rains. In winter and spring it is covered with yellow-green inflorescences. Like all spurges it contains a poisonous milky sap that irritates the skin; it grows on sunny, rocky coasts around the Mediterranean.

Significance in the country

It is one of the most characteristic native plants of the rocky coast between Nice and Menton, including the area around Monaco. It grows wild on inaccessible cliffs, where it has survived despite the development of almost the entire coastline.

Where it grows

On sunny rocks and sea cliffs, especially on the steep, undeveloped slopes of the principality and the neighbouring coast.

More: Wikipedia (en)