Euphorbia commutata |
Euphorbia porteriana |
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tinted euphorbia, tinted woodland spurge |
Porter's sandmat |
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Habit | Herbs, usually biennial, occasionally annual, with taproot. | Herbs, usually annual, sometimes perennial, with slender to occasionally thickened taproot, 5 mm diam.. |
Stems | erect or ascending, decumbent and often branched near base, 10–40 cm, glabrous. |
erect to ascending, sometimes slightly woody at base, not mat-forming, 15–60 cm, usually glabrous, young branches rarely very sparsely short pubescent. |
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. |
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, 1.7–2.5 × 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. |
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 | 9–15. |
8–14. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 0.9–1.3 mm, 2-fid. |
ovary glabrous, subtended by triangular calyxlike structure; styles 0.4–0.6 mm, 2-fid 1/2 length. |
Capsules | ovoid-globose, 2.5–3.2 × 3 mm, slightly lobed; cocci rounded to ± flattened, smooth, glabrous; columella 1.5–2 mm. |
broadly ovoid, 1–1.5 × 1.7–2.1 mm, glabrous; columella 1–1.4 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. |
reddish brown, ovoid, 4-angled in cross section, 0.7–1 × 0.6–0.7 mm, smooth or obscurely wrinkled. |
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. |
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Cyathia | peduncle 0.5–1 mm. |
solitary at distal nodes; peduncle 0.5–1.1 mm. |
Euphorbia commutata |
Euphorbia porteriana |
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Phenology | Flowering and fruiting spring–summer. | Flowering and fruiting year-round. |
Habitat | Bottomland and upland forests, bluffs and ledges, stream banks, glades, rarely fen margins. | Pine rocklands, coastal scrub, open hammocks. |
Elevation | 50–1000 m. (200–3300 ft.) | 0–10 m. (0–0 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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FL |
Discussion | 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.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 300. | FNA vol. 12, p. 285. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Galarhoeus austrinus, G. commutatus, Tithymalus commutatus | Chamaesyce porteriana, C. porteriana var. scoparia, C. scoparia |
Name authority | Engelmann: in A. Gray, Manual ed. 2, 389. (1856) | (Small) Oudejans: Phytologia 67: 48. (1989) |
Web links |