Euphorbia antisyphilitica |
Euphorbia porteriana |
|
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candelilla, wax plant |
Porter's sandmat |
|
Habit | Shrubs, with much-branched, fleshy rootstock. | Herbs, usually annual, sometimes perennial, with slender to occasionally thickened taproot, 5 mm diam.. |
Stems | erect, few branched, 25–50(–100) cm, glabrous or puberulent, pencil-like, in age covered with flaky, exfoliating layer of wax. |
erect to ascending, sometimes slightly woody at base, not mat-forming, 15–60 cm, usually glabrous, young branches rarely very sparsely short pubescent. |
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 usually distinct, occasionally connate basally, triangular, entire or 2–4 parted, apically ciliate, 0.3–0.4 mm, usually glabrous, rarely very sparsely short pubescent; petiole 0.5–1.5 mm, usually glabrous, rarely very sparsely short pubescent; blade ovate, oval, elliptic, oblong-elliptic, or linear-elliptic, 4–12 × 1–7 mm, base asymmetric, rounded or subcordate, margins usually entire, rarely sparsely serrate, apex obtuse to acute, sometimes mucronate, surfaces abaxially often purple or red, adaxially green, usually glabrous, rarely very sparsely short pubescent; 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, 0.7–1 × 0.8–1 mm, usually glabrous, rarely very sparsely short pubescent; glands 4, brown, slightly concave, elliptic-oblong, 0.1–0.2 × 0.3–0.6 mm; appendages white or pink to dark red, usually oblong or flabellate, occasionally rudimentary and forming narrow rim at edge of gland, (0–)0.1–0.2 × 0.4–1 mm, distal margin entire or crenulate. |
Staminate flowers | 50–70. |
8–14. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 0.9–1.1 mm, 2-fid nearly entire length. |
ovary glabrous, subtended by triangular calyxlike structure; styles 0.4–0.6 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. |
broadly ovoid, 1–1.5 × 1.7–2.1 mm, glabrous; columella 1–1.4 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. |
reddish brown, ovoid, 4-angled in cross section, 0.7–1 × 0.6–0.7 mm, smooth or obscurely wrinkled. |
Cyathia | in axillary congested cymes, near branch tips or solitary at distal nodes; peduncle 0–1 mm, lanulose. |
solitary at distal nodes; peduncle 0.5–1.1 mm. |
Euphorbia antisyphilitica |
Euphorbia porteriana |
|
Phenology | Flowering and fruiting year-round in response to sufficient rainfall. | Flowering and fruiting year-round. |
Habitat | Desert scrub, frequently on limestone substrates. | Pine rocklands, coastal scrub, open hammocks. |
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 porteriana is found in Miami-Dade County and on Big Pine Key, Monroe County. This species is closely related to E. blodgettii, E. garberi, and E. serpens. The capsules of E. porteriana are almost always completely glabrous, but the authors have seen three specimens with just a few scattered hairs on the keels. A. Herndon (1993) synonymized E. porteriana var. keyensis under E. garberi because of its uniformly hairy 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. 285. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Alectoroctonum | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Chamaesyce porteriana, C. porteriana var. scoparia, C. scoparia | |
Name authority | Zuccarini: Flora 15(2, Beibl.): 58. (1832) | (Small) Oudejans: Phytologia 67: 48. (1989) |
Web links |