Euphorbia cuphosperma |
Euphorbia fendleri |
|
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hairy-fruit spurge |
Fendler's sandmat |
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Habit | Herbs, annual, with taproot. | Herbs, perennial, with woody, thickened taproot. |
Stems | erect, 13–20 cm, both pilose to villous and densely strigillose; branches ± straight. |
usually prostrate, decumbent, or ascending, very rarely erect, often densely clustered from top of woody crown, 5–12 cm, glabrous. |
Leaves | usually opposite, occasionally alternate at distal nodes; petiole 3–15 mm, pilose; blade narrowly to broadly elliptic, or lanceolate to ovate, 30–80 × 10–15 mm, base cuneate to rounded, margins coarsely crenate-dentate, strigose, revolute to nearly flat, apex broadly acute to acuminate, or obtuse, abaxial surface pilose, adaxial surface sparsely strigose-hirsute; venation pinnate, midvein prominent. |
usually opposite, rarely whorled; stipules distinct, narrowly linear, 0.5–1 mm, glabrous; petiole 0.5–1 mm, glabrous; blade usually orbiculate to ovate, rarely almost lanceolate, 3–8 × 2.5–7 mm, base slightly asymmetric, slightly cordate to rounded or obtuse, margins entire, apex rounded to obtuse, surfaces glabrous; obscurely 3–5-veined from base, only midvein conspicuous. |
Involucre | campanulate to slightly cylindric, 2.3 × 1.2 mm, glabrous; involucral lobes divided into several linear, smooth lobes; gland 1, yellow-green, stipitate, clavate, 1–1.2 × 0.8–0.9 mm, opening bilabiate and oblong, glabrous; appendages absent. |
campanulate to turbinate or broadly cupulate, 1.1–1.7 × 1.2–1.8 mm, glabrous; glands 4, yellow-green to reddish, elliptic to oblong, 0.2–0.5 × 0.4–0.9 mm; appendages absent or white, rarely pink, often unequal, lunate to flabellate or sometimes forming crenate margin along gland, (0–)0.1–0.6 × (0–)0.5–1.5 mm, distal margin entire or toothed. |
Staminate flowers | 3–5. |
25–35. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary pilose; styles 1.2 mm, 2-fid nearly entire length. |
ovary glabrous; styles 0.3–0.4 mm, 2-fid 1/2 length. |
Capsules | broadly ovoid, 2.2–3 × 1.9–2.7 mm, 3-lobed, pilose; columella 2–2.4 mm. |
depressed-globose, 2–2.4 × 2.2–2.5 mm, glabrous; columella 1.7–2.1 mm. |
Seeds | gray-brown to pale gray, pyramidally ovoid, angular in cross section, 2.3–2.6 × 2.4–2.6 mm, coarsely tuberculate, tubercles in 2 transverse rows; caruncle 0.2–0.4 mm. |
white, ovoid-pyramidal, prominently 4-angled in cross section, 1.7–2 × 1–1.2 mm, smooth to slightly wrinkled. |
Cyathial | arrangement: terminal pleiochasial branches usually 3, occasionally reduced to congested cyme, 1–2-branched; pleiochasial bracts 2–4, often whorled, wholly green or paler green at base, similar in shape and size to distal leaves or slightly narrower; dichasial bracts highly reduced. |
|
Cyathia | peduncle 0.5–0.8 mm. |
solitary at distal nodes; peduncle 0.7–1.2 mm. |
2n | = 56. |
= 28. |
Euphorbia cuphosperma |
Euphorbia fendleri |
|
Phenology | Flowering and fruiting summer–fall. | Flowering and fruiting spring–fall. |
Habitat | Open montane and canyon forests, pinyon-juniper forests, montane grasslands, stream beds, disturbed habitats. | Mountain slopes, desert scrub, pinyon-juniper woodlands, hills, canyons, grasslands, washes, roadsides, dry crevices in limestone, often in gravel and sand. |
Elevation | 800–2000 m. (2600–6600 ft.) | 500–2600 m. (1600–8500 ft.) |
Distribution |
AZ; NM; Mexico; Central America (Guatemala)
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AZ; CA; CO; KS; NE; NM; NV; OK; SD; TX; UT; WY; Mexico (Coahuila)
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Discussion | Euphorbia fendleri is similar to E. chaetocalyx and may sometimes be confused with that species. Its prostrate to decumbent or ascending stems and small, ovate to orbiculate leaves distinguish it from E. chaetocalyx. Some authors have used the presence or absence and shape of the involucral gland appendages to help separate E. fendleri from E. chaetocalyx, but those characters appear highly variable and of little taxonomic utility; somewhat intermediate individuals occur in western Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
|
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 319. | FNA vol. 12, p. 267. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Poinsettia | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | E. dentata var. cuphosperma, Poinsettia cuphosperma | Chamaesyce fendleri |
Name authority | (Engelmann) Boissier: in A. P. de Candolle and A. L. P. P. de Candolle, Prodr. 15(2): 73. (1862) | Torrey & A. Gray: in War Department [U.S.], Pacif. Railr. Rep. 2(4): 175. (1857) |
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