Euphorbia commutata |
Euphorbia myrsinites |
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tinted euphorbia, tinted woodland spurge |
broad leaf glaucous spurge, donkey tail, myrtle or creeping or blue spurge, myrtle spurge |
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Habit | Herbs, usually biennial, occasionally annual, with taproot. | Herbs, usually perennial, occasionally biennial, with taproot. |
Stems | erect or ascending, decumbent and often branched near base, 10–40 cm, glabrous. |
erect or semiprostrate, unbranched or branched, 15–40 cm, succulent, glabrous. |
Leaves | petiole usually 5–10 mm, 0–1 mm distally; blade usually oblanceolate to obovate, rarely ovate, 5–30 × 3–10 mm, base broadly attenuate, margins entire, apex usually obtuse to rounded, occasionally slightly retuse, surfaces glabrous; venation pinnate, midvein prominent. |
petiole 0–2 mm; blade obovate, obovate-oblong, lanceolate, orbiculate, or suborbiculate, 2–30 × 3–17 mm, fleshy, base truncate or attenuate, margins entire or finely denticulate, apex acute to obtuse, cuspidate or strongly mucronate, surfaces glabrous; venation and midvein inconspicuous. |
Involucre | campanulate, 1.7–2.5 × 1.5–2.5 mm, glabrous; glands 4, crescent-shaped; 0.6–1 × 0.8–1.5 mm; horns divergent, 0.5–1.1 mm. |
campanulate, 2.4–2.6 × 2.3–2.5 mm, glabrous; glands 4, trapezoidal, 1–1.5 × 1.5–2.5 mm; horns divergent, thick, tips rounded, dilated, 0.5–0.9 mm. |
Staminate flowers | 9–15. |
6–12. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 0.9–1.3 mm, 2-fid. |
ovary glabrous; styles 2.5–2.8 mm, usually unbranched. |
Capsules | ovoid-globose, 2.5–3.2 × 3 mm, slightly lobed; cocci rounded to ± flattened, smooth, glabrous; columella 1.5–2 mm. |
subglobose, 5–7 × 5–6 mm, unlobed; cocci rounded to subangular, smooth, glabrous; columella 4.5–5 mm. |
Seeds | white to gray, broadly oblong-elliptic to ovoid or nearly globose, 1.5–2 × 1.3–1.6 mm, strongly small-pitted; caruncle irregularly winglike, conic, 0.6–1 × 0.7–0.9 mm. |
brownish to grayish, oblong, 2.8–4.5 × 2–3.2 mm, vermiculate-rugose; caruncle substipitate, trapezoidal or mushroom-shaped, 1.3–1.5 × 0.6–0.8 mm. |
Cyathial | arrangement: terminal pleiochasial branches (2–)3(–4), 1–3+ times 2-branched; pleiochasial bracts similar in shape and size to distal leaves; dichasial bracts distinct to basally subconnate, not imbricate, widely ovate, rhombic, or reniform, base cordate, rarely slightly perfoliate, margins entire, apex obtuse to rounded, mucronulate; axillary cymose branches 0–5. |
arrangement: terminal pleiochasial branches 2–12, each 1–2 times 2-branched; pleiochasial bracts similar in shape and size to distal leaves; dichasial bracts distinct, suborbiculate or reniform, base truncate, margins entire or minutely denticulate, apex obtuse, mucronulate; axillary cymose branches 0–4. |
Cyathia | peduncle 0.5–1 mm. |
peduncle 0.5–1 mm. |
Euphorbia commutata |
Euphorbia myrsinites |
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Phenology | Flowering and fruiting spring–summer. | Flowering and fruiting spring–summer. |
Habitat | Bottomland and upland forests, bluffs and ledges, stream banks, glades, rarely fen margins. | Scrub oak communities, open ground near forests, shrub-steppes. |
Elevation | 50–1000 m. (200–3300 ft.) | 0–2400 m. (0–7900 ft.) |
Distribution |
AL; AR; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KY; LA; MD; MI; MO; MS; NC; OH; OK; PA; SC; TN; VA; WI; WV; ON
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CA; CO; ID; MT; NM; OR; UT; WA; WY; BC; s Europe; w Asia [Introduced in North America]
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Discussion | Euphorbia myrsinites is cultivated in much of the flora area, where it can tolerate cold winters. In some areas, it can locally escape from cultivation. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 300. | FNA vol. 12, p. 305. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Galarhoeus austrinus, G. commutatus, Tithymalus commutatus | Tithymalus myrsinites |
Name authority | Engelmann: in A. Gray, Manual ed. 2, 389. (1856) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 461. (1753) |
Web links |
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