Euphorbia curtisii |
Euphorbia pubentissima |
|
---|---|---|
Curtis' spurge, Sandhills spurge |
false flowering spurge, southeastern flowering spurge |
|
Habit | Herbs, perennial, with spreading rootstock. | Herbs, perennial, with spreading rootstock. |
Stems | erect or ascending, branched, solitary or few, previous year's dead stems not persistent, 20–40 cm, usually glabrous, rarely strigose to sericeous at nodes. |
erect, usually unbranched, occasionally few branched distally, solitary or few, previous year's dead stems not persistent, 30–65 cm, usually glabrous, rarely villous. |
Leaves | alternate; stipules to 0.1 mm; petiole to (0–)1–2 mm, glabrous or strigose to sericeous; blade usually linear, occasionally elliptic, rarely ovate, proximal often greatly reduced and often scalelike, 10–30 × 1.5–6 mm, base cuneate, margins entire, occasionally sparsely ciliate, apex rounded or broadly acute, abaxial surface glabrous or sparsely strigose to sericeous, adaxial surface glabrous; venation obscure, only midvein conspicuous. |
alternate; stipules 1 mm; petiole (0–)1–2(–10) mm, glabrous or densely villous; blade lanceolate, lance-ovate, elliptic, or obovate, 40–68 × 6–18 mm, often reflexed, base cuneate to rounded, margins entire, apex usually rounded, sometimes broadly acute, abaxial surface glabrous or villous, adaxial surface usually glabrous, rarely sparsely villous; venation occasionally obscure on small leaves, midvein conspicuous. |
Involucre | campanulate, 1–1.2 × 1.3–1.5(–1.7) mm, glabrous or strigose to sericeous on distal 1/2; glands 5, green, reniform, 0.3 × 0.6 mm; appendages white, semicircular, 0.3–0.4 × 0.6–0.8 mm, entire. |
campanulate or hemispheric, 1.3–1.7 × 1.8–2.2 mm, glabrous or villous; glands 5 (7–10 on central cyathium), green, reniform or broadly elliptic, 0.3–0.5 × 0.5–0.8 mm; appendages white, orbiculate or narrowly flabellate, 1–2.2 × 1.5 mm, entire. |
Staminate flowers | 20–25. |
20–25. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous or sparsely strigose to sericeous; styles 0.6–1.1 mm, 2-fid at apex to 1/2 length. |
ovary glabrous or sparsely villous; styles 0.6–1.1 mm, 2-fid 1/2 length. |
Capsules | globose, 2.5–3.2 × 4.3–5.1 mm, glabrous or sparsely strigose to sericeous; columella 2.4–3.1 mm. |
globose, 2–2.4 × 3.3–4.8 mm, glabrous or sparsely villous; columella 1.8–2.1 mm. |
Seeds | usually gray to black, occasionally brown, ovoid-globose, 2.2 × 1.8 mm, smooth; caruncle absent. |
light gray, ovoid, 2.2–2.4 × 1.6–1.8 mm, with shallow depressions; caruncle absent. |
Cyathia | in terminal pleiochasia (fertile axillary branches occasionally present); peduncle 6.5–17 mm, filiform, glabrous. |
in terminal pleiochasia; peduncle 1–5 mm (or 15–40 mm on early flowering individuals), usually glabrous, occasionally sparsely villous. |
Euphorbia curtisii |
Euphorbia pubentissima |
|
Phenology | Flowering and fruiting early spring–summer. | Flowering and fruiting spring–fall. |
Habitat | Xeric to dry oak or oak-pine scrub of sand hills, pine-oak woodlands, pine-oak savannas. | Open fields, cliffs, woods, floodplains. |
Elevation | 0–200 m. (0–700 ft.) | 0–900 m. (0–3000 ft.) |
Distribution |
FL; GA; NC; SC
|
AL; FL; GA; LA; MD; MS; NC; SC; TN; VA; WV
|
Discussion | Euphorbia curtisii is found in the Gulf and Atlantic coastal plains. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
The taxonomic history of Euphorbia pubentissima is complex. The species has been included within a very broadly defined E. corollata in the past. Therefore, its geographic distribution appears significantly more wide-ranging in some treatments. The framework established by M. J. Huft (1979) and later by K. R. Park (1998) is followed here. Euphorbia pubentissima is recognized as a variable species restricted to the southeastern United States. The species can be distinguished from E. corollata by its shorter involucral gland appendages and smaller seeds. Euphorbia paniculata Elliott, which sometimes is applied to E. pubentissima, is an illegitimate name (a later homonym of Euphorbia paniculata Desfontaines). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 245. | FNA vol. 12, p. 250. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Alectoroctonum | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Alectoroctonum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | E. eriogonoides, Tithymalopsis curtisii, T. eriogonoides | E. apocynifolia, E. corollata var. paniculata, E. corollata var. zinniiflora, E. zinniiflora, Tithymalopsis apocynifolia, T. paniculata, T. zinniiflora |
Name authority | Engelmann ex Chapman: Fl. South. U.S., 401. (1860) | Michaux: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 212. (1803) |
Web links |