Euphorbia cordifolia |
Euphorbia lathyris |
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heartleaf sandmat |
caper spurge, euphorbe épurge, gopher plant, gopher spurge, mole plant |
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Habit | Herbs, annual, with taproot. | Herbs, annual or biennial, with taproot. |
Stems | prostrate, occasionally mat-forming, 10–43 cm, glabrous. |
erect, unbranched or branched, 200 cm, glabrous, glaucous. |
Leaves | opposite; stipules usually distinct, occasionally connate at base, filiform, 1–1.2(–2.8) mm, usually glabrous, rarely pilose; petiole 0.4–1 mm, usually glabrous; blade ovate to oblong, 4.4–12 × 2.6–7.6 mm, base asymmetric, cordate to rounded, margins entire, apex rounded to mucronulate, surfaces glabrous; only midvein conspicuous. |
opposite, decussate; petiole absent; blade linear to oblong-lanceolate, 30–120 × 3–25 mm, base acute, rounded, cordate or clasping, margins entire, apex acute or subobtuse, sometimes mucronate, surfaces glabrous, abaxial ± glaucous; venation pinnate, midvein prominent. |
Involucre | campanulate, 1–1.3 × 1–1.3 mm, glabrous; glands 4, yellowish to pink, elliptic, 0.3–0.5 × 0.5–1 mm; appendages whitish to pink, sometimes drying red, elliptic to ovoid, 1.1–1.5 × 1.2–1.9 mm, distal margin entire, retuse, or erose. |
campanulate, 1.2–2.3 × 1.4–2.5 mm, glabrous; glands 4, elliptic, 0.3–0.6 × 1–1.3 mm; horns divergent, thick, tips rounded, dilated, 0.5–1.4 mm. |
Staminate flowers | 5–40. |
25–30. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 0.5–0.8 mm, 2-fid nearly entire length. |
ovary glabrous; styles 0.7–2.2 mm, 2-fid. |
Capsules | ovoid, 2–3 mm diam., glabrous; columella 1.2–2.7 mm. |
depressed-globose, 9–12 × 12–16 mm, deeply 3-lobed, tardily dehiscent and appearing indehiscent, mesocarp spongy; cocci rounded, smooth, glabrous; columella 4–5.2 mm. |
Seeds | gray or tan with dark brown mottling, ovoid, bluntly 3–4-angled in cross section, 1.8–2.1 × 1.2–1.4 mm, smooth to rugose. |
brownish or blackish, oblong, 4.5–6 × 3–4.2 mm, rugose, irregularly reticulate; caruncle substipitate, hat-shaped, 1.6–2 × 1.2–1.5 mm. |
Cyathia | solitary at distal nodes; peduncle 0.9–3 mm. |
peduncle 0–0.5 mm. |
Cyathial | arrangement: terminal pleiochasial branches 2–4, each 1–2 times 2-branched; pleiochasial bracts cordate-lanceolate, shorter and wider than distal leaves; dichasial bracts distinct, ovate-oblong to lanceolate, base subcordate, margins entire, apex acute; axillary cymose branches 0–10. |
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Euphorbia cordifolia |
Euphorbia lathyris |
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Phenology | Flowering and fruiting summer–fall. | Flowering and fruiting winter–fall. |
Habitat | Xeric oak-pine scrub, pine-barrens, sand barrens, sandy stream banks. | Roadsides, cultivated fields, stream banks, waste places. |
Elevation | 0–200 m. (0–700 ft.) | 0–1800 m. (0–5900 ft.) |
Distribution |
AL; AR; FL; GA; LA; MS; NC; OK; SC; TX
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AZ; CA; CT; ID; IL; MA; MD; MT; NC; OH; OR; PA; SC; TN; TX; VA; WA; WV; BC; ON; QC; Europe; Asia; Africa [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Mexico, South America, Australia]
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Discussion | Euphorbia cordifolia is easily identified by its cordate to rounded leaf base and distinctive filiform stipules. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Euphorbia lathyris is most likely native to the central and eastern Mediterranean region, but it is widely cultivated and often locally escaped in temperate regions worldwide, as in the flora area. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 265. | FNA vol. 12, p. 304. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Chamaesyce cordifolia | Galarhoeus lathyris, Tithymalus lathyris |
Name authority | Elliott: Sketch. Bot. S. Carolina 2: 656. (1824) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 457. (1753) — (as lathyrus) |
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