Description:
Description and Variation: Spurge flax is an herbaceous annual with a fibrous taproot. The overall plant size ranges from 2 1⁄2 inches to two feet tall. Slender, wiry and erect, spurge flax grows as one main stem, or more commonly, branches from the upper plant. The leaf arrangement is alternate. The small and narrow (8-14 mm long) linear shaped, leathery leaves taper to a point, and are progressively smaller upward along the stems. The leaves are sessile and jointed at a yellow cartilaginous base. The flowers are greenish and tubular, two to three mm long, perfect and incomplete: four sepals, no petals, and eight stamens. The stamens are in two whorls of four. Below each flower, two very small bracts arise from a tuft of tiny white hairs. The fruit is a shiny black achene. The round seeds are brown to black, two to three mm long. The plant turns red in the fall.

• Mechanical: Not known.
• Biological: None known.
• Herbicide: Spurge flax is difficult to control due to the lack of surface area of the small, leathery leaves. Okanogan County does have control plots in place, and will provide information as it becomes available. Refer to the State Noxious Weed Control Board site

For More Information:
Detailed information about Spurge Flax is available at the Washington State Noxious Weed Control Board Web Site.