Euphorbia fendleri |
Euphorbia peplus |
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Fendler's sandmat |
petty spurge |
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Habit | Herbs, perennial, with woody, thickened taproot. | Herbs, annual, with taproot. |
Stems | usually prostrate, decumbent, or ascending, very rarely erect, often densely clustered from top of woody crown, 5–12 cm, glabrous. |
erect, unbranched or branched, 5–30 cm, glabrous. |
Leaves | usually opposite, rarely whorled; stipules distinct, narrowly linear, 0.5–1 mm, glabrous; petiole 0.5–1 mm, glabrous; blade usually orbiculate to ovate, rarely almost lanceolate, 3–8 × 2.5–7 mm, base slightly asymmetric, slightly cordate to rounded or obtuse, margins entire, apex rounded to obtuse, surfaces glabrous; obscurely 3–5-veined from base, only midvein conspicuous. |
petiole 1–10 mm; blade obovate, oblong, or suborbiculate, 5–25 × 4–15 mm, base attenuate or cuneate, margins entire, apex obtuse, surfaces glabrous; venation pinnate, midvein prominent. |
Involucre | campanulate to turbinate or broadly cupulate, 1.1–1.7 × 1.2–1.8 mm, glabrous; glands 4, yellow-green to reddish, elliptic to oblong, 0.2–0.5 × 0.4–0.9 mm; appendages absent or white, rarely pink, often unequal, lunate to flabellate or sometimes forming crenate margin along gland, (0–)0.1–0.6 × (0–)0.5–1.5 mm, distal margin entire or toothed. |
cupulate to slightly turbinate, 0.6–1.1 × 0.7–0.9 mm, glabrous; glands 4, elliptic, 0.2–0.3 × 0.5–0.6 mm; horns slightly convergent to divergent, 0.4–0.6 mm. |
Staminate flowers | 25–35. |
10–15. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 0.3–0.4 mm, 2-fid 1/2 length. |
ovary glabrous; styles 0.1–0.2 mm, 2-fid. |
Capsules | depressed-globose, 2–2.4 × 2.2–2.5 mm, glabrous; columella 1.7–2.1 mm. |
subglobose, 1.3–2 × 1.5–2.2 mm, slightly 3-lobed; cocci rounded, with 2 low longitudinal wings, smooth, glabrous; columella 1.1–1.3 mm. |
Seeds | white, ovoid-pyramidal, prominently 4-angled in cross section, 1.7–2 × 1–1.2 mm, smooth to slightly wrinkled. |
whitish or grayish, subovoid, 1–1.6 × 0.6–1 mm, abaxial faces regularly large-pitted (appearing almost alveolate), adaxial faces longitudinally sulcate; caruncle deciduous, conic, 0.2–0.5 × 0.2–0.7 mm. |
Cyathia | solitary at distal nodes; peduncle 0.7–1.2 mm. |
peduncle 0.4–1.1 mm. |
Cyathial | arrangement: terminal pleiochasial branches 3–5, usually 2–8 times 2-branched, 1st branching level rarely 3-furcate; pleiochasial bracts similar in shape to and slightly larger than distal leaves; dichasial bracts distinct, ovate to obovate, base obtuse, margins entire, apex obtuse, usually mucronate; axillary cymose branches 0–3. |
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2n | = 28. |
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Euphorbia fendleri |
Euphorbia peplus |
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Phenology | Flowering and fruiting spring–fall. | Flowering and fruiting year-round. |
Habitat | Mountain slopes, desert scrub, pinyon-juniper woodlands, hills, canyons, grasslands, washes, roadsides, dry crevices in limestone, often in gravel and sand. | Edges of gardens, weedy flower beds, roadsides, waste places, open ground near forests. |
Elevation | 500–2600 m. (1600–8500 ft.) | 0–1500 m. (0–4900 ft.) |
Distribution |
AZ; CA; CO; KS; NE; NM; NV; OK; SD; TX; UT; WY; Mexico (Coahuila)
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AL; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DE; IA; ID; IL; IN; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MT; NC; ND; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OR; PA; RI; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; AB; BC; MB; NB; NF; NS; ON; PE; QC; SK; Europe; w Asia [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Mexico, West Indies, Bermuda, Central America, South America, Africa, Atlantic Islands, Indian Ocean Islands, Pacific Islands, Australia]
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Discussion | Euphorbia fendleri is similar to E. chaetocalyx and may sometimes be confused with that species. Its prostrate to decumbent or ascending stems and small, ovate to orbiculate leaves distinguish it from E. chaetocalyx. Some authors have used the presence or absence and shape of the involucral gland appendages to help separate E. fendleri from E. chaetocalyx, but those characters appear highly variable and of little taxonomic utility; somewhat intermediate individuals occur in western Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 267. | FNA vol. 12, p. 307. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Chamaesyce fendleri | Esula peplus, Galarhoeus peplus, Tithymalus peplus |
Name authority | Torrey & A. Gray: in War Department [U.S.], Pacif. Railr. Rep. 2(4): 175. (1857) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 456. (1753) |
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