Invasive Species Factsheet: Leafy Spurge

If you find Leafy spurge (Euphorbia virgata) growing on your property or in a local natural area, please take a photo and report your finding immediately to the Pennsylvania iMapInvasives program. This will allow for quick action to be taken by local natural resource professionals to eradicate or control it.

Many online resources exist that accept reports of invasive species. The purpose of reporting invasive species is to promote a better understanding of species distributions for people that work in natural resource management, academia, and for those individuals with environmental interests. Uses of invasive species data can include prioritization of on-the-ground management efforts and predictive modeling of future spread to new locations.

The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and the Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program collectively administer a program in Pennsylvania known as  iMapInvasives , a database which accepts reports of invasive plants, animals, and insects found in the state. All reports are reviewed by a species expert prior to being confirmed to ensure data quality. iMapInvasives is available for public use and requires a  login account  to submit and view data.

 NatureServe  is the developer of iMapInvasives. In addition to Pennsylvania, several other states and one Canadian province also participate in the  iMapInvasives network .

If you find Leafy spurge (Euphorbia virgata) growing on your property or in a local natural area, please take a photo and report your finding immediately to the Pennsylvania iMapInvasives program. This will allow for quick action to be taken by local natural resource professionals to eradicate or control it.

Note: Other online programs that also accept reports for invasive species include  EDDMapS ,  USGS NAS , and  iNaturalist .

The following online resources were utilized to compile this fact sheet:

•  Biota of North America Program 
•  Biological Control of Invasive Plants in the Eastern United States 
•  Biological Control of Weeds, A Catalogue of Agents and Their Target Weeds (5th Edition) 
•  Colorado Department of Agriculture  (website)
•  Colorado Department of Agriculture  (fact sheet)
•  Colorado State University 
•  EDDMapS 
•  Friends of the Wild Flower Garden, Inc. 
•  Go Botany 
•  Idaho Weed Awareness Campaign 
•  Invasive Plant Atlas of the United States 
•  Michigan Department of Natural Resources 
•  North Dakota State University 
•  USDA/USFS Fire Effects Information System 
•  USFWS Mountain-Prairie 

Expert review was provided (prior to publication) by fellow staff from the  PA Natural Heritage Program .

This ArcGIS StoryMap was published on September 30, 2021. It is being maintained by the  Western Pennsylvania Conservancy  (WPC) and the  Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program  (PNHP).

Please contact the Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program if you have questions or comments about this fact sheet.