Euphorbia agraria |
Euphorbia telephioides |
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urban spurge |
telephus spurge |
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Habit | Herbs, perennial, with slender, spreading rootstock. | Herbs, perennial, with thickened rootstock. |
Stems | erect or ascending, unbranched or branched, 30–90 cm, glabrous. |
erect or ascending, 20–30 cm. |
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. |
petiole usually absent or indistinct, occasionally to 5.5 mm, blade elliptic or obovate, 31–60 × 7–32 mm, thick and fleshy, base attenuate or cuneate, apex acute, obtuse, or mucronate; venation pinnate with 8–13 lateral veins, these sometimes obscure and only midvein evident. |
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, 1.3–2.3 × 1.6–2.5 mm, lobes ovate to oblong, 0.5–0.7 mm, ciliate; glands purple-red, oblong to trapezoidal, 0.5–0.7 × 0.8–1.2 mm, distal margins entire or crenulate. |
Staminate flowers | 15–20. |
25–30. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 1.2–2 mm, 2-fid. |
gynophore exserted 1.9–3.2 mm, calyxlike lobes triangular, 0.2–0.7 mm; styles connate 1/4 length, 1.3–1.5 mm. |
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-oblate, 5.2–5.6 × 6.6–8.3 mm, 3-lobed; columella 3.9–4.1 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. |
blackish to dark brown, ovoid to globose-ovoid, circular in cross section, 3.2–3.5 × 2.6–3.1 mm, smooth, base rounded to flattened, apex rounded, occasionally with low point. |
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–)3, 5–13 cm, 3–7 times 2-branched; pleiochasial bracts ovate to oblong, 17–31 × 8–15 mm, margins entire, apex acute or obtuse; dichasial bracts ovate, 5–19 × 3–9 mm, margins entire, apex acute or obtuse; axillary cymose branches 1–5. |
Cyathia | peduncle 0–2 mm. |
peduncle 3–9.2 mm (often exceeding subcyathial leaves). |
Euphorbia agraria |
Euphorbia telephioides |
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Phenology | Flowering and fruiting spring–summer. | Flowering and fruiting spring–fall. |
Habitat | Grasslands, roadside banks, pastures. | Scrubby pine flatwoods, grasslands, disturbed areas, often in sandy soils. |
Elevation | 200–1600 m. (700–5200 ft.) | 0–20 m. (0–100 ft.) |
Distribution |
KS; MT; NE; NY; PA; WA; WY; AB; SK; Europe [Introduced in North America]
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FL |
Discussion | Euphorbia telephioides, federally listed as threatened, is known only from Bay, Franklin, and Gulf counties in the Apalachicola region of the east-central Florida panhandle. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 298. | FNA vol. 12, p. 316. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Nummulariopsis |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Tithymalus agrarius | Galarhoeus telephioides |
Name authority | M. Bieberstein: Fl. Taur.-Caucas. 1: 375. (1808) | Chapman: Fl. South. U.S., 402. (1860) |
Web links |