Flora of North America species comparison

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Euphorbia dentata

Euphorbia platysperma

green poinsettia, tooth poinsettia, tooth spurge

dune spurge, flat-seed spurge, flatseed sandmat
Habit Herbs, annual, with taproot. Herbs, annual or short-lived perennial, with slender taproot.
Stems

erect or ascending, 15–60 cm, both pilose and inconspicuously strigillose;

branches usually ± straight, occasionally proximal branches arcuate.

prostrate, spreading and often mat-forming, 10–100 cm, glabrous.
Leaves

usually opposite, occasionally alternate at distal nodes;

petiole 5–20 mm, pilose;

blade 30–70 × 4–35 mm, narrowly lanceolate to suborbiculate, usually broadest below middle, base usually acute to subobtuse, rarely subtruncate, margins coarsely crenate-dentate or doubly crenate, strigillose, flat to slightly revolute, apex broadly acute, abaxial surface long pilose with weak, filiform hairs, adaxial surface sparsely pilose to glabrate;

venation pinnate, midvein prominent.

opposite;

stipules usually distinct, occasionally connate basally, rarely to middle, subulate, narrowly triangular, or divided into 2–4 subulate segments, 0.5–1.1 mm, glabrous;

petiole 1–3.6 mm, glabrous;

blade oblong to obovate, 5–12 × 3–5 mm, base subsymmetric, cuneate to attenuate, margins entire, apex usually acute to mucronulate, rarely obtuse, surfaces glabrous;

only midvein conspicuous.
Involucre

campanulate, 3.8 × 1.8 mm, glabrous;

involucral lobes divided into several linear, smooth lobes;

glands (1–)2, green, sessile and broadly attached, 0.7–0.9 × 0.9–1.2 mm, opening oblong, glabrous;

appendages absent.

campanulate to obconic, 1.5–2 × 1.3–2.5 mm, glabrous;

glands 4, yellowish, subcircular to oblong, 0.5–0.6 × 0.5–0.6 mm;

appendages white, ovate to oblong or almost triangular, 0.3–0.6 × 0.3–0.8 mm, distal margin entire or shallowly 2–3-lobed.
Staminate flowers

8–10.

45–50.
Pistillate flowers

ovary glabrous, styles 1.2 mm, 2-fid 1/2 to nearly entire length.

ovary glabrous, styles 0.4–0.6 mm, 2-fid 1/2 length.
Capsules

depressed-globose, 2.5–2.8 × 3.5–4 mm, 3-lobed, glabrous;

columella 1.8–2.1 mm.

ovoid to ellipsoid, 2.7–3.2 × 2.2–2.9 mm, glabrous;

columella 2.6–2.8 mm.
Seeds

pale gray to black, ovoid, rounded in cross section, 2.1–2.7 × 1.7–2.1 mm, evenly minute-tuberculate;

caruncle 0.4–0.6 mm.

whitish, pinkish, or light brown, ellipsoid-oblong, weakly dorsiventrally compressed and semielliptic in cross section, 2.2–2.5 × 1.3–1.6 mm, with sharp linelike longitudinal ridge on adaxial side, smooth and rounded on back.
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, white, or mauve at base, similar in shape and size to distal leaves or slightly narrower;

dichasial bracts similar in shape to distal leaves but smaller (often highly reduced).

Cyathia

peduncle 0.7–1 mm.

solitary at distal nodes;

peduncle 1.6–4.1 mm.
2n

= 28.

Euphorbia dentata

Euphorbia platysperma
Phenology Flowering and fruiting spring–fall. Flowering and fruiting year-round in response to sufficient moisture.
Habitat Bottomland forests, stream and river banks, bluffs, prairies, glades, fallow fields, roadsides, railroad cinders, open disturbed areas. Sand dunes in Sonoran Desert scrub.
Elevation 0–1000 m. (0–3300 ft.) 60–200 m. (200–700 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MD; MI; MO; MS; NC; NE; OH; OK; PA; SC; TN; TX; VA; WV; ON; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; Mexico (Baja California, Sonora)
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Euphorbia dentata is native from northern Mexico and the south central United States north and east through the Ohio River Valley. Scattered occurrences in the southeastern United States likely represent adventive populations. Reports of E. dentata as a noxious weed (from the United States and the Old World) should most likely be attributed to introductions of E. davidii.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 321. FNA vol. 12, p. 282.
Parent taxa Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Poinsettia Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum
Sibling taxa
E. aaron-rossii, E. abramsiana, E. acuta, E. agraria, E. albomarginata, E. alta, E. angusta, E. antisyphilitica, E. arizonica, E. astyla, E. austrotexana, E. bicolor, E. bifurcata, E. bilobata, E. blodgettii, E. bombensis, E. brachycera, E. capitellata, E. carunculata, E. chaetocalyx, E. chamaesula, E. cinerascens, E. commutata, E. conferta, E. cordifolia, E. corollata, E. crenulata, E. cumulicola, E. cuphosperma, E. curtisii, E. cyathophora, E. cyparissias, E. davidii, E. deltoidea, E. dendroides, E. discoidalis, E. eriantha, E. exigua, E. exserta, E. exstipulata, E. falcata, E. fendleri, E. florida, E. floridana, E. garberi, E. georgiana, E. geyeri, E. glyptosperma, E. golondrina, E. gracillima, E. graminea, E. helioscopia, E. helleri, E. heterophylla, E. hexagona, E. hirta, E. hooveri, E. humistrata, E. hypericifolia, E. hyssopifolia, E. indivisa, E. innocua, E. inundata, E. ipecacuanhae, E. jaegeri, E. jejuna, E. laredana, E. lasiocarpa, E. lata, E. lathyris, E. longicruris, E. lurida, E. macropus, E. maculata, E. marginata, E. meganaesos, E. melanadenia, E. mendezii, E. mercurialina, E. mesembrianthemifolia, E. micromera, E. misera, E. missurica, E. myrsinites, E. nephradenia, E. nutans, E. oblongata, E. ocellata, E. ophthalmica, E. ouachitana, E. parishii, E. parryi, E. pediculifera, E. peplidion, E. peplus, E. perennans, E. pergamena, E. pinetorum, E. platyphyllos, E. platysperma, E. polycarpa, E. polygonifolia, E. polyphylla, E. porteriana, E. prostrata, E. pubentissima, E. purpurea, E. radians, E. rayturneri, E. revoluta, E. roemeriana, E. rosescens, E. schizoloba, E. serpens, E. serpillifolia, E. serrata, E. serrula, E. setiloba, E. simulans, E. spathulata, E. stictospora, E. strictior, E. telephioides, E. terracina, E. tetrapora, E. texana, E. theriaca, E. thymifolia, E. tithymaloides, E. trachysperma, E. trichotoma, E. vallis-mortae, E. velleriflora, E. vermiculata, E. villifera, E. virgata, E. wrightii, E. yaquiana
E. aaron-rossii, E. abramsiana, E. acuta, E. agraria, E. albomarginata, E. alta, E. angusta, E. antisyphilitica, E. arizonica, E. astyla, E. austrotexana, E. bicolor, E. bifurcata, E. bilobata, E. blodgettii, E. bombensis, E. brachycera, E. capitellata, E. carunculata, E. chaetocalyx, E. chamaesula, E. cinerascens, E. commutata, E. conferta, E. cordifolia, E. corollata, E. crenulata, E. cumulicola, E. cuphosperma, E. curtisii, E. cyathophora, E. cyparissias, E. davidii, E. deltoidea, E. dendroides, E. dentata, E. discoidalis, E. eriantha, E. exigua, E. exserta, E. exstipulata, E. falcata, E. fendleri, E. florida, E. floridana, E. garberi, E. georgiana, E. geyeri, E. glyptosperma, E. golondrina, E. gracillima, E. graminea, E. helioscopia, E. helleri, E. heterophylla, E. hexagona, E. hirta, E. hooveri, E. humistrata, E. hypericifolia, E. hyssopifolia, E. indivisa, E. innocua, E. inundata, E. ipecacuanhae, E. jaegeri, E. jejuna, E. laredana, E. lasiocarpa, E. lata, E. lathyris, E. longicruris, E. lurida, E. macropus, E. maculata, E. marginata, E. meganaesos, E. melanadenia, E. mendezii, E. mercurialina, E. mesembrianthemifolia, E. micromera, E. misera, E. missurica, E. myrsinites, E. nephradenia, E. nutans, E. oblongata, E. ocellata, E. ophthalmica, E. ouachitana, E. parishii, E. parryi, E. pediculifera, E. peplidion, E. peplus, E. perennans, E. pergamena, E. pinetorum, E. platyphyllos, E. polycarpa, E. polygonifolia, E. polyphylla, E. porteriana, E. prostrata, E. pubentissima, E. purpurea, E. radians, E. rayturneri, E. revoluta, E. roemeriana, E. rosescens, E. schizoloba, E. serpens, E. serpillifolia, E. serrata, E. serrula, E. setiloba, E. simulans, E. spathulata, E. stictospora, E. strictior, E. telephioides, E. terracina, E. tetrapora, E. texana, E. theriaca, E. thymifolia, E. tithymaloides, E. trachysperma, E. trichotoma, E. vallis-mortae, E. velleriflora, E. vermiculata, E. villifera, E. virgata, E. wrightii, E. yaquiana
Synonyms Poinsettia dentata Chamaesyce platysperma
Name authority Michaux: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 211. (1803) Engelmann: in W. H. Brewer et al., Bot. California 2: 482. (1880)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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