Some Spurges.

Flower of Caper Spurge, Euphorbia lathyris.

Spurges, plants in the Euphorbia family, have inconspicuous green flowers.  Even when Euphorbias look showy (as with Poinsettias), it's not the small flowers themselves that have the colour, but the bracts around them.

This is something of a technicality, as the same purpose is served whether it's petals or bracts that are coloured.  But this post aims to show that even when there are no colourful bracts, the flowers and their appurtenances are still lovely.  Of course you have to see them magnified to appreciate that!

Clockwise from top left: Caper Spurge, Sun Spurge, Wood Spurge and Petty Spurge.

Here are four local wild spurges, all common and easy to find, and at the top and below are their flowers.

Flowers of Sun Spurge, Euphorbia helioscopia.

They all have glands in shapes unique to the species.  Like the bracts, they are not strictly part of the flower.

Flowers of Wood Spurge, Euphorbia amygdaloides.

They have a number of tiny male flowers surrounding one larger female one. The female flower is usually easy to spot. It has a stalk, a rounded ovary and a group of stigmas.

Flowers of Petty Spurge, Euphorbia peplus.

You can hardly see the actual flowers at all on a Petty Spurge, but those horned glands are distinctive.