Euphorbia abramsiana |
Euphorbia porteriana |
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Abrams' sandmat, Abrams' spurge |
Porter's sandmat |
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Habit | Herbs, annual, with slender taproot. | Herbs, usually annual, sometimes perennial, with slender to occasionally thickened taproot, 5 mm diam.. |
Stems | prostrate, mat-forming, 10–35(–50) cm, shortly pilose or puberulent at least proximally, often glabrous distally. |
erect to ascending, sometimes slightly woody at base, not mat-forming, 15–60 cm, usually glabrous, young branches rarely very sparsely short pubescent. |
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 usually distinct, occasionally connate basally, triangular, entire or 2–4 parted, apically ciliate, 0.3–0.4 mm, usually glabrous, rarely very sparsely short pubescent; petiole 0.5–1.5 mm, usually glabrous, rarely very sparsely short pubescent; blade ovate, oval, elliptic, oblong-elliptic, or linear-elliptic, 4–12 × 1–7 mm, base asymmetric, rounded or subcordate, margins usually entire, rarely sparsely serrate, apex obtuse to acute, sometimes mucronate, surfaces abaxially often purple or red, adaxially green, usually glabrous, rarely very sparsely short pubescent; 3-veined from base, 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. |
turbinate to campanulate, 0.7–1 × 0.8–1 mm, usually glabrous, rarely very sparsely short pubescent; glands 4, brown, slightly concave, elliptic-oblong, 0.1–0.2 × 0.3–0.6 mm; appendages white or pink to dark red, usually oblong or flabellate, occasionally rudimentary and forming narrow rim at edge of gland, (0–)0.1–0.2 × 0.4–1 mm, distal margin entire or crenulate. |
Staminate flowers | 3–5. |
8–14. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 0.1–0.3 mm, 2-fid nearly entire length. |
ovary glabrous, subtended by triangular calyxlike structure; styles 0.4–0.6 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. |
broadly ovoid, 1–1.5 × 1.7–2.1 mm, glabrous; columella 1–1.4 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. |
reddish brown, ovoid, 4-angled in cross section, 0.7–1 × 0.6–0.7 mm, smooth or obscurely wrinkled. |
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 0.5–1.1 mm. |
Euphorbia abramsiana |
Euphorbia porteriana |
|
Phenology | Flowering and fruiting summer–fall. | Flowering and fruiting year-round. |
Habitat | Desert scrub and desert grasslands. | Pine rocklands, coastal scrub, open hammocks. |
Elevation | -40–1400 m. (-100–4600 ft.) | 0–10 m. (0–0 ft.) |
Distribution |
AZ; CA; NM; TX; Mexico (Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora)
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FL |
Discussion | Euphorbia porteriana is found in Miami-Dade County and on Big Pine Key, Monroe County. This species is closely related to E. blodgettii, E. garberi, and E. serpens. The capsules of E. porteriana are almost always completely glabrous, but the authors have seen three specimens with just a few scattered hairs on the keels. A. Herndon (1993) synonymized E. porteriana var. keyensis under E. garberi because of its uniformly hairy capsules, and that treatment is followed here. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 259. | FNA vol. 12, p. 285. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Chamaesyce abramsiana | Chamaesyce porteriana, C. porteriana var. scoparia, C. scoparia |
Name authority | L. C. Wheeler: Bull. S. Calif. Acad. Sci. 33: 109. (1934) | (Small) Oudejans: Phytologia 67: 48. (1989) |
Web links |