Week Seven: Mala Mujer

Common Name: Mala Mujer

Scientific Name: Cnidoscolus angustidens

Not-So-Fun Fact: Mala mujer translates from the Spanish into "bad woman" and refers to the nettle-like stinging hairs combined with toxic sap that cause a painful, inflamed rash on the skin of anyone who comes into contact with the plant.


Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Plantae

Phylum: Magnoliophyta

Class: Magnoliopsida

Order: Euphorbiales

Family: Euphorbiaceae

Genus: Cnidoscolus

Species: C. angustidens

Description: Mala mujer is a two-foot-tall perennial shrub that sports diminutive white flowers. Its white-spotted leaves are covered in fine nettle-like hairs that inject themselves into the skin. Despite these needle-like hairs, mala mujer is classified not as a nettle of the Urticaceae family but a toxic-sap-spurting spurge of the Euphorbiaceae family.

Environment: Mala mujer is generally found in the Sonoran desert of the southern United States and northern Mexico. It prefers hot and very dry climates.

Reproduction & Development: Mala mujer is a flowering angiosperm, which means it reproduces using flowers that must be pollinated and must turn into fruits. This form of reproduction is sexual.

Nutrition: Mala mujer requires very little water or nutrients but much sunlight, as it is a desert plant. Its roots are succulent, which means that they retain much water for the plant underground.