Selected Plants of Navajo Rangelands

Take care of our Navajo Rangelands

Leafy spurge
Ch’il abcí tsoh
(a.k.a. Faitours-grass, wolf's milk)

Cluster of small yellow flowers surrounded by yellow-green bracts

Spurge is an herbaceous perennial that is adapted to many soil types and habitats. It typically invades disturbed and undisturbed areas such as pastures, rangelands, abandoned croplands, roadsides, wetlands, woodlands, floodplains, riparian areas, mountain ridges, and prairies. It's milky sap may cause skin and eye irritation in humans and be toxic to cattle if ingested in large quantities.

Long narrow leaves
Small yellow flowers with fan-shaped bracts surrounding them
Growth habit showing multiple stems
Small plants with red stems and dry, drooping leaves
Umbel-shaped flower cluster with foliage

Copyright 2018 New Mexico State University. Individual photographers retain all rights to their images. Partially funded by the Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (westernsare.org; 435.797.2257), project EW15-023. Programs and projects supported by Western SARE are equally open to all people. NMSU is an equal opportunity/affirmative action educator and employer..

NMSU does not discriminate on the basis of age, ancestry, color, disability, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, retaliation, serious medical condition, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, spousal affiliation or protected veteran status in its programs and activities as required by equal opportunity/affirmative action regulations and laws and university policy and rules. For more information please read the NMSU Notice of Non-discrimination (opens in new window).