Euphorbia antisyphilitica |
Euphorbia garberi |
|
---|---|---|
candelilla, wax plant |
Garber's sandmat |
|
Habit | Shrubs, with much-branched, fleshy rootstock. | Herbs, perennial, with moderately thickened rootstock. |
Stems | erect, few branched, 25–50(–100) cm, glabrous or puberulent, pencil-like, in age covered with flaky, exfoliating layer of wax. |
ascending, sometimes slightly woody at base, not wiry, 1–3 mm diam., 15–50 cm, canescent. |
Leaves | 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. |
opposite; stipules distinct or connate at base, triangular-subulate, apex divided into 2–5 subulate to subulate-filiform segments, 0.5–0.7 mm, pilose; petiole 0.5–1.1 mm, pilose; blade ovate to oblong-elliptic, 4–9(–15) × 3–6 mm, base asymmetric, obtuse to rounded, margins usually entire, rarely very sparsely serrulate, apex usually obtuse to rounded, occasionally acute to apiculate, surfaces canescent; 3-veined from base, only midvein conspicuous. |
Involucre | 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. |
turbinate to campanulate, 0.6–0.9 × 0.5–0.9 mm, pilose; glands 4, brown, slightly concave, elliptic to subcircular, 0.1–0.3 × 0.2–0.4 mm; appendages white to pink, as narrow rim along gland, (0–)0.1–0.2 × 0.3–0.5 mm, surfaces pilose, distal margin entire or crenulate. |
Staminate flowers | 50–70. |
8–20. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 0.9–1.1 mm, 2-fid nearly entire length. |
ovary pilose; styles 0.6–0.7 mm, 2-fid 1/2 length. |
Capsules | oblong to ovoid, 3.9–4.2 × 3.6–3.9 mm, glabrous; columella 3.1–3.3 mm. |
subglobose to broadly ovoid, 1.1–1.6 × 1.3–2.1 mm, pilose; columella 1.1–1.6 mm. |
Seeds | 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. |
gray to reddish brown, oblong-ovoid, 4-angled in cross section, 1–1.2 × 0.6–0.8 mm, flat or obscurely wrinkled. |
Cyathia | in axillary congested cymes, near branch tips or solitary at distal nodes; peduncle 0–1 mm, lanulose. |
solitary at nodes of short, axillary branches; peduncle 0.2–0.4 mm. |
Euphorbia antisyphilitica |
Euphorbia garberi |
|
Phenology | Flowering and fruiting year-round in response to sufficient rainfall. | Flowering and fruiting year-round. |
Habitat | Desert scrub, frequently on limestone substrates. | Beach dunes, coastal rock barrens, disturbed uplands and pine rocklands. |
Elevation | 100–1200 m. (300–3900 ft.) | 0–10 m. (0–0 ft.) |
Distribution |
NM; TX; Mexico
|
FL |
Discussion | 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.) |
Euphorbia garberi appears to be an interspecific hybrid, but its parentage is not entirely clear (Y. Yang and P. E. Berry 2011). The taxon is closely related to E. blodgettii, E. porteriana, and E. serpens. It is restricted to Collier, Miami-Dade, and Monroe counties in southern Florida and is federally listed as threatened due to impacts from habitat loss, fire suppression, and invasive species. A. Herndon (1993) synonymized E. porteriana var. keyensis under E. garberi because of its uniformly pilose capsules, and that treatment is followed here. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 243. | FNA vol. 12, p. 268. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Alectoroctonum | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Chamaesyce adicioides, C. brachypoda, C. garberi, C. keyensis, C. mosieri, C. porteriana var. keyensis, E. porteriana var. keyensis | |
Name authority | Zuccarini: Flora 15(2, Beibl.): 58. (1832) | Engelmann ex Chapman: Fl. South. U.S. ed. 2, 646. (1883) |
Web links |