I am having trouble identifying this plant. It has varigated leaves that seem to be more varigated as new growth appears. It has little white flowers on the ends of the newest growth with tiny yellow centers. I think I remember someone telling me that it either attracts caterpillers or butterflies. At this point it is about 3 1/2 feet tall.
Check for Euphorbia by breaking a leaf off - see if it bleeds white latex. Warning: don't touch the latex, it is caustic and can cause skin burns.
It does look like E. marginata, "Snow on the Mountain", which grows down here. I didn't realize it had such a wide range until I looked at the USDA map.
I don't think that the latex or milky sap burns skin, but it is abrasive and can do serious and permanent damage if rubbed into eyes. It kills fish (by abrading their gills) if allowed to drip into fishponds. Ironic in view of the photo, perhaps, but for that reason it is risky growing euphorbias in a yard where children play. I handled it by teaching my kids to identify euphorbias when they were pretty small, but as a back-up that they should never touch their faces (esp eyes/mouth, since there are other poisonous plants out there) when in the garden and until hands are washed.
It can cause skin burns on people with sensitive skin. It is a poison, causing damage by chemical action, not an abrasive (abrasives are things like sand and grit, that damage skin by physical action, not chemical)
I don't recall the name of the Euphorbia expert from whose presentation I culled my information, but it is certainly possible that I misinterpreted what he said. A quick google search for "euphorbia sap" clarifies that the active ingredient is indeed an irritant chemical. In my defense there is such a thing as chemical abrasion... Whatever. Point is, don't get it in your eyes! But what I also learned from the google search is that some species of Euphorbia are far more dangerous than others, I gather most notably the succulent species. http://www.euphorbia.de/giftarzt_e.htm
