Euphorbia abramsiana |
Euphorbia parishii |
|
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Abrams' sandmat, Abrams' spurge |
Parish's sandmat |
|
Habit | Herbs, annual, with slender taproot. | Herbs or subshrubs, perennial, with thickened and often woody rootstock. |
Stems | prostrate, mat-forming, 10–35(–50) cm, shortly pilose or puberulent at least proximally, often glabrous distally. |
prostrate, sometimes forming dense mounds, 10–50 cm, glabrous. |
Leaves | opposite; stipules distinct, divided into 5–7 subulate-filiform segments, 0.6–1.1 mm, usually glabrous, rarely pilose; petiole 0.5–1 mm, glabrous; blade ovate, elliptic-oblong, or slightly ovate-cordate, 3–11 × 2–5 mm, base asymmetric, truncate to hemicordate, margins serrulate at least toward apex, often entire toward base, apex acute to obtuse, surfaces sometimes with red spot in center, glabrous; usually only the midvein conspicuous. |
opposite; stipules distinct, subulate-filiform, 0.3–0.9 mm, pilose; petiole 0.3–1.2 mm, glabrous; blade usually ovate, rarely oblong, 2–7 × 1–5 mm, base usually asymmetric, rounded to hemicordate, margins entire, apex usually obtuse, rarely acute, surfaces glabrous; only midvein conspicuous. |
Involucre | obconic, 0.5–0.6 × 0.4–0.5 mm, glabrous; glands 4, yellowish to pink, circular to oblong, 0.1 × 0.1–0.2 mm; appendages absent, or white to pink, semicircular to broadly ovate, to 0.1 × 0.2 mm, distal margin entire or shallowly lobed. |
obconic to campanulate, 1–1.4 × 0.9–1.3 mm, glabrous except for pilose lobes; glands 4, pink to maroon, circular, 0.3–0.4 × 0.3–0.4 mm; appendages absent. |
Staminate flowers | 3–5. |
40–50. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 0.1–0.3 mm, 2-fid nearly entire length. |
ovary glabrous; styles 0.3–0.6 mm, 2-fid 1/2 length. |
Capsules | ellipsoid to ovoid, 1.3–1.5 × 1.1–1.5 mm, glabrous; columella 1–1.3 mm. |
ovoid to oblate-ovoid, 1.6–1.7 × 1.6–1.9 mm, glabrous; columella 1.2–1.5 mm. |
Seeds | light gray to light brown, narrowly ovoid to ovoid, 4-angled in cross section, 1–1.2 × 0.6–0.7 mm, with 3–5 prominent transverse ridges that often interrupt abaxial keel. |
whitish to light brown, ovoid, 4-angled in cross section, 1.2–1.4 × 0.6–0.8 mm, rugose or with indistinct, irregular, low transverse ridges. |
Cyathia | solitary at distal nodes of primary stems or at nodes of short congested axillary branchlets; peduncle 0.2–0.5 mm. |
solitary at distal nodes; peduncle 0.1–0.6(–2.2) mm. |
Euphorbia abramsiana |
Euphorbia parishii |
|
Phenology | Flowering and fruiting summer–fall. | Flowering and fruiting fall–summer. |
Habitat | Desert scrub and desert grasslands. | Desert scrub, often with creosote bush, disturbed roadsides, rocky soils. |
Elevation | -40–1400 m. (-100–4600 ft.) | -90–600 m. (-300–2000 ft.) |
Distribution |
AZ; CA; NM; TX; Mexico (Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora)
|
CA; NV |
Discussion | Euphorbia parishii is common in the Death Valley region of southern California, where it is often encountered well below sea level. The species is frequently confused with E. micromera and E. polycarpa but differs from the former in being a more robust plant with larger cyathia and from the latter in lacking involucral gland appendages. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
|
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 259. | FNA vol. 12, p. 280. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Chamaesyce abramsiana | Chamaesyce parishii, E. polycarpa var. parishii |
Name authority | L. C. Wheeler: Bull. S. Calif. Acad. Sci. 33: 109. (1934) | Greene: Bull. Calif. Acad. Sci. 2: 56. (1886) |
Web links |