Euphorbia cuphosperma |
Euphorbia micromera |
|
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hairy-fruit spurge |
desert spurge, Sonoran sandmat, tiny sandmat |
|
Habit | Herbs, annual, with taproot. | Herbs, annual, with slender taproot. |
Stems | erect, 13–20 cm, both pilose to villous and densely strigillose; branches ± straight. |
prostrate, mat-forming, 5–35 cm, glabrous or shortly pilose. |
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. |
opposite; stipules distinct, subulate, 0.2–0.4 mm, pilose; petiole 0.5–1.2 mm, glabrous or pilose; blade ovate to elliptic, 6–15 × 2–4 mm, base asymmetric, one side cuneate to rounded, other side rounded, margins entire, apex obtuse, surfaces glabrous or pilose; venation obscure or 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, 0.4–0.6 × 0.5–0.9 mm, glabrous or pilose; glands 4, red, circular to oblong, 0.1 × 0.1–0.2 mm; appendages absent. |
Staminate flowers | 3–5. |
2–5. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary pilose; styles 1.2 mm, 2-fid nearly entire length. |
ovary usually glabrous, rarely pilose; styles 0.1–0.2 mm, 2-fid at apex. |
Capsules | broadly ovoid, 2.2–3 × 1.9–2.7 mm, 3-lobed, pilose; columella 2–2.4 mm. |
oblong, 1.3–1.5 × 1.1–1.3 mm, usually glabrous, rarely pilose; columella 1–1.2 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. |
light gray, narrowly ovoid, 4-angled in cross section, 0.9–1 × 0.5–0.6 mm, smooth to slightly rugose or with 1–4 faint transverse ridges that do not pass through abaxial keel. |
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 0.4–1.4 mm. |
2n | = 56. |
|
Euphorbia cuphosperma |
Euphorbia micromera |
|
Phenology | Flowering and fruiting summer–fall. | Flowering nearly year-round in response to sufficient rainfall. |
Habitat | Open montane and canyon forests, pinyon-juniper forests, montane grasslands, stream beds, disturbed habitats. | Desert scrub, riparian woods with ash and willow, saltbush scrub, Joshua tree woodlands and grasslands, often in sandy or gravelly areas. |
Elevation | 800–2000 m. (2600–6600 ft.) | -20–1800 m. (-100–5900 ft.) |
Distribution |
AZ; NM; Mexico; Central America (Guatemala)
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AZ; CA; NM; NV; TX; UT; Mexico (Baja California, Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Sonora)
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Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 319. | FNA vol. 12, p. 278. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Poinsettia | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | E. dentata var. cuphosperma, Poinsettia cuphosperma | Chamaesyce micromera |
Name authority | (Engelmann) Boissier: in A. P. de Candolle and A. L. P. P. de Candolle, Prodr. 15(2): 73. (1862) | Boissier: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 5: 171. (1861) |
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