One of a number of Euphorbias native to Greece, Euphorbia helioscopia grows on waste ground, road verges and even the upper reaches of some beaches. The translucent yellow plants seem to catch the sunlight, giving it the species name helioscolia. The flower arrangement is typical of the euphorbias, with a small female flower surrounded  by tiny male flowers, which in turn is surrounded by yellow bracts; the whole appearing like a single flower, a pseudantheum, known as a cyatheum. The female flower develops into a capsule, which, when ripe explodes scattering the seeds. The seeds are further spread by ants, who carry them back to their nests.

Although the plants have been used in folk medicine for centuries but they are poisonous and one of the common english names was mad woman’s milk. The stems contain, as for other euphorbias, a milky sap , which is highly irritant and causes a rash especially following exposure to sun (photosensitive).