Flora of North America species comparison

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Argythamnia humilis

low silverbush
Habit Herbs, perennial, usually monoecious, rarely dioecious, to 3 dm.
Stems

erect or prostrate, hairy or glabrous, hairs not silvery, malpighiaceous.
Leaves

stipules persistent, ovate to lanceolate, 0.3–1.4 mm, margins not glandular;

petiole 2–10 mm;

blade obovate to linear, 0.5–7 × 0.2–2.2 cm, margins entire, sometimes slightly revolute, without glands, surfaces hairy or glabrous, hairs not silvery, malpighiaceous.
Inflorescences

bisexual, rarely unisexual (staminate), 0.7–0.9 cm;

bracts ovate to lanceolate, 0.8–2.5 mm, margins without glands.
Flowers

without pink dye when wetted.
Staminate flowers

sepals lanceolate, 2.4–3.3 × 0.3–0.8 mm;

petals elliptic, 1.5–2.6 × 0.4–0.8 mm, free from androphore;

nectary glands ovate to linear, 0.4–0.8 × 0.2–0.3 mm, adnate to or free from androphore, glabrous, rarely pubescent;

stamens (7–)10, staminodes 2–3, glabrous.
Pistillate flowers

sepals elliptic, 4–5.2 × 0.9–2.5 mm, without glands, petals 5, elliptic to filiform, 0.3–1.7 × 0.3–0.4 mm;

nectary glands linear to oblong, 0.3–1.5 × 0.1–0.4 mm, glabrous;

ovary hispidulous, strigillose, or glabrous;

styles 0.6–1.3 mm, glabrous;

stigmas flattened.
Capsules

1.6–4.2 mm, hispidulous, strigillose, or glabrous.
Seeds

1.5–2.5 mm, smooth or rugose-roughened to papillate.

Argythamnia humilis
Phenology Flowering year-round.
Habitat Pine-oak forests, desert scrub, grasslands, limestone, sandstone, and clay soils.
Elevation 0–1600 m. (0–5200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CO; KS; NM; OK; TX; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas)
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Glabrous plants have been recognized as Argythamnia laevis (and other combinations of Aphora laevis at different taxonomic ranks). B. L. Turner (2001b) studied this variation and concluded that the glabrous plants do not form distinct populations but instead are individuals in otherwise pubescent populations. Argythamnia humilis var. leiosperma was distinguished by possessing smooth seeds, in contrast to the markedly rugose-roughened seeds of var. humilis. When he described the variety, Waterfall mentioned that var. leiosperma is found in populations of western Oklahoma (Cimarron County) and central Texas (Brown and Hamilton counties). However, this taxon has not been recognized in recent treatments of the plants of Texas (G. M. Diggs et al. 1999; Turner et al. 2003) and Oklahoma (R. J. Tyrl et al. 2010) and is not accepted here.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 176.
Parent taxa Euphorbiaceae > Argythamnia
Sibling taxa
A. adenophora, A. aphoroides, A. argothamnoides, A. argyraea, A. brandegeei, A. claryana, A. cyanophylla, A. lanceolata, A. mercurialina, A. serrata, A. simulans
Synonyms Aphora humilis, A. laevis, A. mercurialina var. pumila, A. humilis var. laevis, A. humilis var. leiosperma, A. laevis, Ditaxis humilis, D. humilis var. leiosperma, D. laevis
Name authority (Engelmann & A. Gray) Müller Arg.: Linnaea 34: 147. (1865) — (as Argyrothamnia)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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