Euphorbia curtisii |
Euphorbia theriaca |
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Curtis' spurge, Sandhills spurge |
Terlingua sandmat, Terlingua spurge |
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Habit | Herbs, perennial, with spreading rootstock. | Herbs, annual, with slender taproot. | ||||
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. |
prostrate to reclining, not mat-forming, 5–30 cm, glabrous. |
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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. |
opposite; stipules usually distinct, occasionally connate basally on lower side of stem, subulate or scalelike, usually entire, occasionally 2-fid or margin sparsely ciliate, 0.4–1 mm, glabrous; petiole 0.7–1.2(–1.5) mm, glabrous; blade ovate, oblong, orbiculate, or obovate, 2–7.1 × 1–3.5 mm, base slightly asymmetric, rounded, margins entire, often revolute on drying, apex usually rounded, occasionally slightly emarginate, surfaces glabrous; venation usually obscure, only midvein conspicuous. |
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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. |
usually turbinate-campanulate to hemispheric, occasionally suburceolate, 1–1.8 × 0.9–1.4 mm, glabrous; glands 4, yellow-green to red-purple, sessile or short-stipitate, subcircular to slightly elliptic, 0.2–0.5 × 0.2–0.7 mm; appendages absent or white to pink, semilunate or forming rim at edge of gland, (0–)0.1–0.4 × (0–)0.3–0.9 mm, entire or slightly crenate. |
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Staminate flowers | 20–25. |
15–36. |
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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; styles 0.3–0.5 mm, 2-fid 1/2 length. |
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Capsules | globose, 2.5–3.2 × 4.3–5.1 mm, glabrous or sparsely strigose to sericeous; columella 2.4–3.1 mm. |
broadly ovoid, 1.1–1.6 × 1.5–1.8 mm, glabrous; columella 1.2–1.5 mm. |
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Seeds | usually gray to black, occasionally brown, ovoid-globose, 2.2 × 1.8 mm, smooth; caruncle absent. |
whitish, reddish brown beneath coat, ovate, 4-angled in cross section, 0.8–1.2 × 0.5–0.8 mm, with (2–)3(–5) deep transverse ridges. |
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Cyathia | in terminal pleiochasia (fertile axillary branches occasionally present); peduncle 6.5–17 mm, filiform, glabrous. |
usually solitary at distal nodes, rarely clustered on short, axillary branches; peduncle 0.3–1.3 mm. |
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2n | = 28. |
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Euphorbia curtisii |
Euphorbia theriaca |
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Phenology | Flowering and fruiting early spring–summer. | |||||
Habitat | Xeric to dry oak or oak-pine scrub of sand hills, pine-oak woodlands, pine-oak savannas. | |||||
Elevation | 0–200 m. (0–700 ft.) | |||||
Distribution |
FL; GA; NC; SC
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NM; TX; n Mexico
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Discussion | Euphorbia curtisii is found in the Gulf and Atlantic coastal plains. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 245. | FNA vol. 12, p. 290. | ||||
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Alectoroctonum | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | E. eriogonoides, Tithymalopsis curtisii, T. eriogonoides | Chamaesyce theriaca | ||||
Name authority | Engelmann ex Chapman: Fl. South. U.S., 401. (1860) | L. C. Wheeler: Rhodora 43: 242, plate 660, fig. A. (1941) | ||||
Web links |