|
giant spurge, roughpod spurge, tall spurge, warty spurge
|
candelilla, wax plant
|
| Herbs, annual or biennial, with taproot. |
Shrubs, with much-branched, fleshy rootstock. |
erect, branched, 20–60 cm, glabrous. |
erect, few branched, 25–50(–100) cm, glabrous or puberulent, pencil-like, in age covered with flaky, exfoliating layer of wax. |
petiole 0–1 mm; blade oblong-spatulate, 20–50 × 7–18 mm, base broadly attenuate, margins serrulate, apex rounded to obtuse, surfaces glabrous, ± glaucous; venation pinnate, midvein prominent. |
alternate usually caducous, sometimes persisting; stipules 0.4–0.5 mm; petiole absent; blade ovate to deltate-subulate, 2.5–4 × 1 mm, thick, fleshy, base usually rounded and swollen, rarely cuneate, margins entire, apex acute, surfaces puberulent, adaxial sometimes canescent; venation inconspicuous. |
narrowly campanulate, 0.8–1.1 × 1.1–1.3 mm, glabrous; glands 4, elliptic, 0.3–0.5 × 0.5–0.7 mm; horns absent. |
campanulate, 1.6–2.2 × 1.6–1.9 mm, puberulent to canescent; glands 5, pinkish, narrowly oblong to reniform, 0.3–0.4 × 0.8–1 mm; appendages white to pink, ovate, oblong, or transversely oblong, 1.3–2.5 × 1.4–2.5 mm, usually erose, rarely entire. |
5–10. |
50–70. |
ovary glabrous; styles 0.5–0.9 mm, 2-fid. |
ovary glabrous; styles 0.9–1.1 mm, 2-fid nearly entire length. |
depressed-globose, 2–3 × 2.5–3.5 mm, 3-lobed; cocci rounded, papillate, papillae 0.2–0.5 mm, glabrous; columella 1.5–1.9 mm. |
oblong to ovoid, 3.9–4.2 × 3.6–3.9 mm, glabrous; columella 3.1–3.3 mm. |
purple-black, ovoid, 1.6–2 × 1.3–1.7 mm, reticulate and areolate; caruncle reniform, flat, 0.5 × 0.7 mm. |
whitish gray, narrowly ovoid, 2.4–3.1 × 1.4–1.6 mm, irregularly rugose-tuberculate; caruncle crescent-shaped, 0.3–0.6 × 0.6–0.8 mm. |
arrangement: terminal pleiochasial branches 3, 2–3 times 2-branched; pleiochasial bracts elliptic-oblanceolate to oblong, similar in size to distal leaves; dichasial bracts distinct, broadly ovate to orbiculate/reniform, base obtuse, margins serrulate, apex obtuse to rounded and often mucronulate; axillary cymose branches 6–20(–25). |
|
peduncle 0.5–1 mm. |
in axillary congested cymes, near branch tips or solitary at distal nodes; peduncle 0–1 mm, lanulose. |
|
|
|
|
| Flowering and fruiting summer. |
Flowering and fruiting year-round in response to sufficient rainfall. |
| Montane pine-oak and mixed conifer forests, disturbed roadsides, logged areas. |
Desert scrub, frequently on limestone substrates. |
| 1500–3000 m. (4900–9800 ft.) |
100–1200 m. (300–3900 ft.) |
|
AZ; NM; Mexico
|
NM; TX; Mexico
|
Euphorbia alta is a montane species from southern Arizona, New Mexico, and northern and central Mexico that is very similar to and sometimes difficult to distinguish from E. spathulata. Euphorbia alta tends to be a robust biennial, whereas E. spathulata is strictly annual. The most consistent characteristic to separate these two species is that the ovaries and capsules of E. alta are distinctly papillate, with the papillae rising sharply above the surface, whereas the ovaries and capsules of E. spathulata are merely verrucose, with the protuberances lower and rounded. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Euphorbia antisyphilitica is the only pencil-stemmed species of Euphorbia occurring in the flora area. The species is characteristic of the Chihuahuan Desert scrub of Mexico from Chihuahua and Coahuila south to Hidalgo and Querétaro, and barely enters into the United States in southern New Mexico (Doña Ana and Lincoln counties) and southwest (Brewster, Hudspeth, Presidio, and Terrell counties) and south (Starr and Webb counties) Texas. The stems are covered in a conspicuous coat of exfoliating wax, and the plants historically have been harvested for this product, although the practice is much less prevalent now. The specific epithet refers to its traditional medicinal use in treating sexually transmitted infections. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
| FNA vol. 12, p. 298. |
FNA vol. 12, p. 243. |
| Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula |
Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Alectoroctonum |
E. aaron-rossii, E. abramsiana, E. acuta, E. agraria, E. albomarginata, E. angusta, E. antisyphilitica, E. arizonica, E. astyla, E. austrotexana, E. bicolor, E. bifurcata, E. bilobata, E. blodgettii, E. bombensis, E. brachycera, E. capitellata, E. carunculata, E. chaetocalyx, E. chamaesula, E. cinerascens, E. commutata, E. conferta, E. cordifolia, E. corollata, E. crenulata, E. cumulicola, E. cuphosperma, E. curtisii, E. cyathophora, E. cyparissias, E. davidii, E. deltoidea, E. dendroides, E. dentata, E. discoidalis, E. eriantha, E. exigua, E. exserta, E. exstipulata, E. falcata, E. fendleri, E. florida, E. floridana, E. garberi, E. georgiana, E. geyeri, E. glyptosperma, E. golondrina, E. gracillima, E. graminea, E. helioscopia, E. helleri, E. heterophylla, E. hexagona, E. hirta, E. hooveri, E. humistrata, E. hypericifolia, E. hyssopifolia, E. indivisa, E. innocua, E. inundata, E. ipecacuanhae, E. jaegeri, E. jejuna, E. laredana, E. lasiocarpa, E. lata, E. lathyris, E. longicruris, E. lurida, E. macropus, E. maculata, E. marginata, E. meganaesos, E. melanadenia, E. mendezii, E. mercurialina, E. mesembrianthemifolia, E. micromera, E. misera, E. missurica, E. myrsinites, E. nephradenia, E. nutans, E. oblongata, E. ocellata, E. ophthalmica, E. ouachitana, E. parishii, E. parryi, E. pediculifera, E. peplidion, E. peplus, E. perennans, E. pergamena, E. pinetorum, E. platyphyllos, E. platysperma, E. polycarpa, E. polygonifolia, E. polyphylla, E. porteriana, E. prostrata, E. pubentissima, E. purpurea, E. radians, E. rayturneri, E. revoluta, E. roemeriana, E. rosescens, E. schizoloba, E. serpens, E. serpillifolia, E. serrata, E. serrula, E. setiloba, E. simulans, E. spathulata, E. stictospora, E. strictior, E. telephioides, E. terracina, E. tetrapora, E. texana, E. theriaca, E. thymifolia, E. tithymaloides, E. trachysperma, E. trichotoma, E. vallis-mortae, E. velleriflora, E. vermiculata, E. villifera, E. virgata, E. wrightii, E. yaquiana |
E. aaron-rossii, E. abramsiana, E. acuta, E. agraria, E. albomarginata, E. alta, E. angusta, E. arizonica, E. astyla, E. austrotexana, E. bicolor, E. bifurcata, E. bilobata, E. blodgettii, E. bombensis, E. brachycera, E. capitellata, E. carunculata, E. chaetocalyx, E. chamaesula, E. cinerascens, E. commutata, E. conferta, E. cordifolia, E. corollata, E. crenulata, E. cumulicola, E. cuphosperma, E. curtisii, E. cyathophora, E. cyparissias, E. davidii, E. deltoidea, E. dendroides, E. dentata, E. discoidalis, E. eriantha, E. exigua, E. exserta, E. exstipulata, E. falcata, E. fendleri, E. florida, E. floridana, E. garberi, E. georgiana, E. geyeri, E. glyptosperma, E. golondrina, E. gracillima, E. graminea, E. helioscopia, E. helleri, E. heterophylla, E. hexagona, E. hirta, E. hooveri, E. humistrata, E. hypericifolia, E. hyssopifolia, E. indivisa, E. innocua, E. inundata, E. ipecacuanhae, E. jaegeri, E. jejuna, E. laredana, E. lasiocarpa, E. lata, E. lathyris, E. longicruris, E. lurida, E. macropus, E. maculata, E. marginata, E. meganaesos, E. melanadenia, E. mendezii, E. mercurialina, E. mesembrianthemifolia, E. micromera, E. misera, E. missurica, E. myrsinites, E. nephradenia, E. nutans, E. oblongata, E. ocellata, E. ophthalmica, E. ouachitana, E. parishii, E. parryi, E. pediculifera, E. peplidion, E. peplus, E. perennans, E. pergamena, E. pinetorum, E. platyphyllos, E. platysperma, E. polycarpa, E. polygonifolia, E. polyphylla, E. porteriana, E. prostrata, E. pubentissima, E. purpurea, E. radians, E. rayturneri, E. revoluta, E. roemeriana, E. rosescens, E. schizoloba, E. serpens, E. serpillifolia, E. serrata, E. serrula, E. setiloba, E. simulans, E. spathulata, E. stictospora, E. strictior, E. telephioides, E. terracina, E. tetrapora, E. texana, E. theriaca, E. thymifolia, E. tithymaloides, E. trachysperma, E. trichotoma, E. vallis-mortae, E. velleriflora, E. vermiculata, E. villifera, E. virgata, E. wrightii, E. yaquiana |
| Tithymalus altus |
|
| Norton: N. Amer. Euphorbia, 24, plate 24. (1899) |
Zuccarini: Flora 15(2, Beibl.): 58. (1832) |
| |
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