Euphorbia agraria |
Euphorbia lathyris |
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urban spurge |
caper spurge, euphorbe épurge, gopher plant, gopher spurge, mole plant |
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Habit | Herbs, perennial, with slender, spreading rootstock. | Herbs, annual or biennial, with taproot. |
Stems | erect or ascending, unbranched or branched, 30–90 cm, glabrous. |
erect, unbranched or branched, 200 cm, glabrous, glaucous. |
Leaves | petiole absent; blade oblong-elliptic, 20–65 × 9–20 mm, base truncate to auriculate, margins entire, apex obtuse to rounded, surfaces glabrous; venation conspicuously pinnate, midvein prominent. |
opposite, decussate; petiole absent; blade linear to oblong-lanceolate, 30–120 × 3–25 mm, base acute, rounded, cordate or clasping, margins entire, apex acute or subobtuse, sometimes mucronate, surfaces glabrous, abaxial ± glaucous; venation pinnate, midvein prominent. |
Involucre | campanulate, 2.2–3 × 1.8–2 mm, glabrous; glands 4, crescent-shaped; 0.6–1 × 1–2 mm; horns slightly divergent to convergent, 0.1–0.2 mm. |
campanulate, 1.2–2.3 × 1.4–2.5 mm, glabrous; glands 4, elliptic, 0.3–0.6 × 1–1.3 mm; horns divergent, thick, tips rounded, dilated, 0.5–1.4 mm. |
Staminate flowers | 15–20. |
25–30. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 1.2–2 mm, 2-fid. |
ovary glabrous; styles 0.7–2.2 mm, 2-fid. |
Capsules | globose, 2–2.8 × 2.2–2.7 mm, 3-lobed; cocci rounded, smooth except finely granulate toward abaxial line, glabrous; columella 2.1–2.7 mm. |
depressed-globose, 9–12 × 12–16 mm, deeply 3-lobed, tardily dehiscent and appearing indehiscent, mesocarp spongy; cocci rounded, smooth, glabrous; columella 4–5.2 mm. |
Seeds | gray or whitish, ovoid-oblong, 2–2.1 × 1.2–1.3 mm, smooth; caruncle ± rounded and flattened, 0.8 × 0.6 mm. |
brownish or blackish, oblong, 4.5–6 × 3–4.2 mm, rugose, irregularly reticulate; caruncle substipitate, hat-shaped, 1.6–2 × 1.2–1.5 mm. |
Cyathial | arrangement: terminal pleiochasial branches 8–15, 1–2 times 2-branched; pleiochasial bracts similar in shape but shorter and narrower than distal leaves; dichasial bracts distinct, rhombic to reniform, base obtuse, margins entire, apex obtuse, mucronate; axillary cymose branches 12–23. |
arrangement: terminal pleiochasial branches 2–4, each 1–2 times 2-branched; pleiochasial bracts cordate-lanceolate, shorter and wider than distal leaves; dichasial bracts distinct, ovate-oblong to lanceolate, base subcordate, margins entire, apex acute; axillary cymose branches 0–10. |
Cyathia | peduncle 0–2 mm. |
peduncle 0–0.5 mm. |
Euphorbia agraria |
Euphorbia lathyris |
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Phenology | Flowering and fruiting spring–summer. | Flowering and fruiting winter–fall. |
Habitat | Grasslands, roadside banks, pastures. | Roadsides, cultivated fields, stream banks, waste places. |
Elevation | 200–1600 m. (700–5200 ft.) | 0–1800 m. (0–5900 ft.) |
Distribution |
KS; MT; NE; NY; PA; WA; WY; AB; SK; Europe [Introduced in North America]
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AZ; CA; CT; ID; IL; MA; MD; MT; NC; OH; OR; PA; SC; TN; TX; VA; WA; WV; BC; ON; QC; Europe; Asia; Africa [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Mexico, South America, Australia]
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Discussion | Euphorbia lathyris is most likely native to the central and eastern Mediterranean region, but it is widely cultivated and often locally escaped in temperate regions worldwide, as in the flora area. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 298. | FNA vol. 12, p. 304. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Tithymalus agrarius | Galarhoeus lathyris, Tithymalus lathyris |
Name authority | M. Bieberstein: Fl. Taur.-Caucas. 1: 375. (1808) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 457. (1753) — (as lathyrus) |
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