Euphorbia characias -- California

This plant is a medium-to-large perennial herb from the Mediterranean. It is grown in cultivation and there is some question about whether the plants seen escaping within the study region (California) are the subspecies E. characias ssp wulfenii. Although the species was noted on many gardening websites as being actively self-seeding, very few records of the species invading in wildlands were available at the time of this evaluation. Many records, e.g. those in GBIF seemed to lead to plants that were immediately adjacent to gardens. The ecology of the species is very poorly documented, with only a handful of papers available mentioning the species, focused on its relationship to ants. So it should be noted that several "no" answers about several aspects of its ecology may be due to this fact and could be changed if more information becomes available (whereas usually a "no" answer due to lack of information in a well-documented species may be more reliable). Still, the assessment should be as accurate as indicated by the confidence levels.