Euphorbia agraria |
Euphorbia parryi |
|
---|---|---|
urban spurge |
dune spurge, Parry's sandmat, Parry's spurge |
|
Habit | Herbs, perennial, with slender, spreading rootstock. | Herbs, annual, with taproot. |
Stems | erect or ascending, unbranched or branched, 30–90 cm, glabrous. |
usually prostrate, rarely ascending-erect, 5–70(–85) cm, glabrous. |
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; stipules distinct, linear-subulate, usually lacerate and divided into 2 or more slender segments, rarely entire, 0.6–1.4 mm, glabrous; petiole 1–2.5 mm, glabrous; blade linear to narrowly oblong, (5–)10–25(–30) × 2–5 mm, base usually symmetric, sometimes slightly asymmetric, attenuate, margins entire, occasionally ± revolute, apex acute to obtuse, mucronulate, surfaces glabrous; only midvein conspicuous. |
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. |
broadly cupuliform-campanulate, 1.2–1.7 × 1.4–1.8 mm, glabrous; glands 4, reddish pink to greenish yellow, deeply concave, elliptic to oblong, 0.2–0.3 × 0.3–0.5 mm; appendages white, elliptic to oblong, usually forming narrow margin around gland, sometimes rudimentary, 0.2–0.6 × 0.3–0.7(–1.1) mm, distal margin entire. |
Staminate flowers | 15–20. |
40–55. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 1.2–2 mm, 2-fid. |
ovary glabrous; styles 0.5–0.7 mm, 2-fid nearly entire length. |
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. |
ovoid-globose, 2–2.3 × 1.5–2.5 mm, glabrous; columella 1.4–2 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. |
mottled brown and white because of irregularly loose and tight outer covering, broadly ovoid, rounded-angular in cross section, 1.4–1.8 × 0.8–1 mm, smooth or only inconspicuously roughened. |
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. |
|
Cyathia | peduncle 0–2 mm. |
solitary or in small clusters on short axillary branches at distal nodes; peduncle 1–5 mm. |
Euphorbia agraria |
Euphorbia parryi |
|
Phenology | Flowering and fruiting spring–summer. | Flowering and fruiting spring–fall. |
Habitat | Grasslands, roadside banks, pastures. | Sand dunes, other sandy habitats. |
Elevation | 200–1600 m. (700–5200 ft.) | 200–2200 m. (700–7200 ft.) |
Distribution |
KS; MT; NE; NY; PA; WA; WY; AB; SK; Europe [Introduced in North America]
|
AZ; CA; CO; NM; NV; TX; UT; Mexico (Chihuahua)
|
Discussion | Euphorbia parryi is similar to E. missurica, differing only by the generally narrow involucral gland appendages and prostrate habit in E. parryi as opposed to the conspicuous involucral gland appendages and ascending-erect habit in E. missurica. Euphorbia parryi has sometimes been considered the western race of E. missurica (D. S. Correll and M. C. Johnston 1970). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
|
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 298. | FNA vol. 12, p. 281. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Tithymalus agrarius | Chamaesyce longeramosa, C. parryi, E. longeramosa |
Name authority | M. Bieberstein: Fl. Taur.-Caucas. 1: 375. (1808) | Engelmann: Amer. Naturalist 9: 350. (1875) |
Web links |