Euphorbia cordifolia |
Euphorbia serrata |
|
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heartleaf sandmat |
saw tooth spurge, saw-tooth or tooth or serrate spurge, serrate spurge |
|
Habit | Herbs, annual, with taproot. | Herbs, perennial, with thick rootstock. |
Stems | prostrate, occasionally mat-forming, 10–43 cm, glabrous. |
erect, branched, 10–70 cm, glabrous. |
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. |
petiole absent; blade lanceolate, ovate-lanceolate, linear, or linear-lanceolate, 10–70 × 2–20 mm, base acute or obtuse, margins irregularly serrate, apex acute to obtuse, surfaces glabrous; venation inconspicuous, only 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, 2–4 × 1.2–3 mm, glabrous; glands 4–5, elliptic, ovate, or suborbiculate, 1.2–1.8 × 1.5–2.7 mm; horns absent or slightly divergent, 0–0.6 mm. |
Staminate flowers | 5–40. |
20–40. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 0.5–0.8 mm, 2-fid nearly entire length. |
ovary glabrous; styles 1–2 mm, 2-fid. |
Capsules | ovoid, 2–3 mm diam., glabrous; columella 1.2–2.7 mm. |
subovoid, 4.5–6 × 4–5 mm, 3-lobed; cocci rounded, smooth occasionally slightly puncticulate, glabrous; columella 4–4.5 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. |
grayish, cylindric, 2.5–3.1 × 1.7–2 mm, smooth or slightly dotted; caruncle subconic, lobed, 1–1.5 × 0.5–1 mm. |
Cyathia | solitary at distal nodes; peduncle 0.9–3 mm. |
peduncle 1–5 mm. |
Cyathial | arrangement: terminal pleiochasial branches 3–5, each 1–3 times 2-branched; pleiochasial bracts ovate-lanceolate, usually shorter and wider than distal leaves; dichasial bracts distinct, ovate or deltate, base obtuse to cordate, margins irregularly dentate, apex acute, or obtuse, mucronate; axillary cymose branches 0–3. |
|
Euphorbia cordifolia |
Euphorbia serrata |
|
Phenology | Flowering and fruiting summer–fall. | Flowering and fruiting spring–fall. |
Habitat | Xeric oak-pine scrub, pine-barrens, sand barrens, sandy stream banks. | Waste places, disturbed sites, roadsides, fields, pastures. |
Elevation | 0–200 m. (0–700 ft.) | 0–300 m. (0–1000 ft.) |
Distribution |
AL; AR; FL; GA; LA; MS; NC; OK; SC; TX
|
CA; Europe; Atlantic Islands (Macaronesia) [Introduced in North America] |
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 serrata, native to the western Mediterranean region of Europe and Macaronesia, is listed as a noxious weed by the state of California. In the flora area, it has been found in coastal counties from Sonoma to Monterey counties; attempts to eradicate it may have been successful. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 265. | FNA vol. 12, p. 309. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Chamaesyce cordifolia | Galarhoeus serratus, Tithymalus serratus |
Name authority | Elliott: Sketch. Bot. S. Carolina 2: 656. (1824) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 459. (1753) |
Web links |