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rib seed sandmat, corrugate seeded spurge, ridge seeded spurge

mole plant, gopher plant, caper spurge

Habit Monoecious, glabrous annuals with prostrate, freely-branching stems 0.5-4 dm. long. Glabrous and glaucous annual, the stems erect, fleshy, dichotomously branched, 3-10 dm. tall.
Leaves

Leaves opposite, obliquely lanceolate to oblong, 5-15 mm. long, entire or with fine, rounded serrations;

stipules mostly linear, 1 mm. long.

Leaves opposite, numerous, narrowly oblong, 6-12 cm. long and sessile near the stem base;

leaves broadened upward on the stem, becoming ovate.

Flowers

Flowers tiny, monoecious, borne in axillary involucres; staminate flowers numerous, naked, each consisting of a single stamen; pistillate flower single and terminal in the involucre;

involucre bearing 4 pinkish glands with whitish appendages, a fifth gland represented by a short, fringed lobe.

Flowers tiny, monoecious, borne in axillary involucres; staminate flowers numerous, naked, each consisting of a single stamen; pistillate flower single and terminal in the involucre;

involucre about 3 mm. long, purplish, bearing 4 glands with short, rounded horns.

Fruits

Capsules smooth, 1.5 mm. long;

seeds 1.2 mm. long, grayish, prismatic, coarsely wrinkled.

Capsule globose, coarsely wrinkled, 5-10 mm. long, separating into three 1-seeded segments.

Euphorbia glyptosperma

Euphorbia lathyris

Flowering time June-September April-May
Habitat Dry, sandy soil, from the plains to the lower mountains. Disturbed soil and wasteland.
Distribution
Occurring chiefly east of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to across most of North America to the Atlantic Coast.
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Occurring chiefly west of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California east to Idaho, Montana, Arizona, and Texas; widely distributed in eastern North America.
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Origin Native Introduced from Eurasia
Conservation status Not of concern Not of concern
Sibling taxa
E. agraria, E. amygdaloides, E. characias, E. cyparissias, E. epithymoides, E. helioscopia, E. lathyris, E. maculata, E. myrsinites, E. oblongata, E. peplus, E. platyphyllos, E. segetalis, E. serpillifolia, E. serrulata, E. spathulata, E. virgata
E. agraria, E. amygdaloides, E. characias, E. cyparissias, E. epithymoides, E. glyptosperma, E. helioscopia, E. maculata, E. myrsinites, E. oblongata, E. peplus, E. platyphyllos, E. segetalis, E. serpillifolia, E. serrulata, E. spathulata, E. virgata
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