Gopher Plant aka Silver Spurge aka Euphorbia Rigida

The plant had mystified me when I first spotted it in May 2019. Since then, I'd taken a few videos and stills of it, and a couple from a different site. Earlier this year, I stumbled across a YouTube video that included a snippet and ID (Euphorbia rigida) of the suspect plant. Google search results for "silver spurge euphorbia rigida" also show several plants that resemble my images.

In poring over additional web info, I concluded the intriguing plant is a gopher plant, aka silver spurge, aka Euphorbia rigida. (That scientific term causes me to think it best to copy/paste it, as I might easily mistakenly spell euphoria instead of Euphorbia.)

Some enlightening sites:

"Euphorbia rigida Also Known As Gopher Plant Rigid Spurge" shows a gallery that includes several pix with leaf formations that are similar to my images. It also explains one of its plant terms:

Rigid spurge? Sounds like more of a social disease than a great garden plant. ... The upright stems are clothed in long, pointed, powder-blue, deer-resistant leaves. In very early spring, the ends of each stem are adorned with yellow bracts similar to a miniature poinsettia.

Bract? From Garden Word of the Day site for "Bracts": "Bracts are specialized or modified leaves. ... The presence of bracts, or lack thereof, can help you identify plants."

Gopher Plant Care: Learn How To Grow Euphorbia Rigida provides overview and info about the plant's name.

It belongs to the Euphorbia genus, named after Euphorbus, a Greek physician who is credited for introducing the Euphorbian plants. ... Native to the Mediterranean and Middle East regions, the gopher plant is a low-maintenance plant-type and a drought-resistant evergreen.

Euphorbia Rigida or Gopher Plants also provides overview of the plant. The explanation for why "gopher plant": "The same milky sap that causes irritation to humans also repels rodents and small mammals like gophers, hence the plant's name."

The video includes stills and clips that I took 5/23/2019, 6/1/2019, 8/6/2019, 3/18/2020, and 8/2/2010. Near the end, a four-footer makes a guest appearance, with a few other hoofers making cameos. BTW, deer hooves are special, according to "Hooves make everything deer do possible".