Euphorbia cuphosperma |
Euphorbia ipecacuanhae |
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hairy-fruit spurge |
American ipecac, Carolina ipecac, ipecac spurge |
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Habit | Herbs, annual, with taproot. | Herbs, perennial, with deep, stout rootstock. |
Stems | erect, 13–20 cm, both pilose to villous and densely strigillose; branches ± straight. |
decumbent or slightly ascending, branched, often densely clumped, previous year's dead stems not persistent, 17–27 cm, usually glabrous, rarely sparsely villous. |
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. |
alternate; stipules 0.1–0.2 mm; petiole (0–)1–2 mm, glabrous; blade usually linear, obovate, or oblanceolate to orbiculate, rarely filiform, proximal greatly reduced, scalelike, 15–70 × 1.5–13 mm gradually smaller proximally, base cuneate, margins entire, apex rounded, broadly acute, or emarginate, surfaces glabrous; venation occasionally obscure on smaller leaves, 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. |
yellow or yellow-green, hemispheric, 1–1.2 × 2–2.4 mm, glabrous; glands 5, yellow or yellow-green, obovate or elliptic, 0.7–0.8 × 1–1.2 mm; appendages white or green, often forming narrow rim around distal margin of gland, 0–0.2 mm, entire. |
Staminate flowers | 3–5. |
10–20. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary pilose; styles 1.2 mm, 2-fid nearly entire length. |
ovary glabrous; styles 0.4–0.8 mm, 2-fid at apex. |
Capsules | broadly ovoid, 2.2–3 × 1.9–2.7 mm, 3-lobed, pilose; columella 2–2.4 mm. |
globose, 2.3–3.4 × 3.5–4.2 mm, glabrous; columella 3–3.1 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 or brown, ovoid, 2.3–2.5 × 1.5 mm, angular, with 5 longitudinal ridges, shallowly and irregularly pitted; caruncle absent. |
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. |
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Cyathia | peduncle 0.5–0.8 mm. |
usually in terminal dichasia, sometimes pleiochasia; peduncle 10–50(–70) mm, glabrous. |
2n | = 56. |
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Euphorbia cuphosperma |
Euphorbia ipecacuanhae |
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Phenology | Flowering and fruiting summer–fall. | Flowering and fruiting early spring–early summer. |
Habitat | Open montane and canyon forests, pinyon-juniper forests, montane grasslands, stream beds, disturbed habitats. | Pine and pine-oak savannas, pine-oak sand hills, turkey oak scrub, open sand habitats. |
Elevation | 800–2000 m. (2600–6600 ft.) | 0–150 m. (0–500 ft.) |
Distribution |
AZ; NM; Mexico; Central America (Guatemala)
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CT; DC; DE; GA; MD; NC; NJ; NY; PA; SC; VA
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Discussion | The vegetative stems of Euphorbia ipecacuanhae are often quite short in proportion to the dichasial or pleiochasial branches, thus superficially plants often appear to have mostly opposite leaves. However, careful examination of the base of the plant will reveal alternate leaves. The leaves are extremely variable in both shape and coloration, and the variation can be pronounced within a population or even on a single plant. M. J. Huft (1979) did not recognize infraspecific taxa within E. ipecacuanhae, and his treatment is followed here. This species is found on the Atlantic coastal plain. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 319. | FNA vol. 12, p. 247. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Poinsettia | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Alectoroctonum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | E. dentata var. cuphosperma, Poinsettia cuphosperma | E. arundelana, Tithymalopsis ipecacuanhae |
Name authority | (Engelmann) Boissier: in A. P. de Candolle and A. L. P. P. de Candolle, Prodr. 15(2): 73. (1862) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 455. (1753) |
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