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Chiricahua Mountain sandmat

beetle spurge

Habit Herbs, annual, with slender taproot. Herbs, annual or perennial, with slender to thick, woody taproot.
Stems

erect, 15–60 cm, usually glabrous, rarely puberulent.

erect to ascending, 10–75 cm, glabrous or with scattered appressed hairs (especially near nodes);

branches arcuate.

Leaves

opposite;

stipules distinct, divided into 3–4 subulate-filiform divisions, 0.4–1.6 mm, usually glabrous, rarely puberulent;

petiole 0.5–2.5 mm, glabrous;

blade usually linear, rarely to narrowly elliptic, 10–40(–60) × 0.5–2.5 mm, base symmetric, attenuate, margins serrulate, often revolute, apex acute, surfaces usually glabrous, rarely puberulent; obscurely pinnately veined.

alternate;

petiole 0.1–0.4 mm, often indistinct, glabrous or sparsely pilose to shortly sericeous;

blade linear to linear-elliptic, 20–55 × 1–3 mm, base attenuate, margins entire or with 2–4 inconspicuous teeth near apex, apex acute, abaxial surface pilose to shortly sericeous, adaxial surface usually glabrous, rarely pilose to shortly sericeous;

only midvein conspicuous.

Involucre

obconic, 1.7–2.4 × 1.5–2.1 mm, glabrous;

glands 4, greenish yellow to slightly pink, circular to oblong, 0.4–0.5 × 0.4–0.6 mm;

appendages white to pink, obovoid, circular, flabellate, or oblong, 0.8–2.9 × 1–2.8 mm, distal margin entire.

obconic, 2.1–2.6 × 1.3–2 mm, canescent;

involucral lobes triangular, obscured by hairs;

glands (2–)4–5, green to maroon, color often obscured by hairs, sessile and broadly attached, 0.5–0.6 × 0.5–0.6 mm, opening oblong to nearly circular, densely canescent;

appendages petaloid, whitish, hoodlike, incurved and covering glands, 0.5–1 × 0.5–0.8 mm, divided into 5–12 fringed, subulate segments, densely canescent.

Staminate flowers

25–35.

20–25.

Pistillate flowers

ovary glabrous;

styles 0.8–1.4 mm, 2-fid entire length.

ovary canescent;

styles 0.9–1.5 mm, unbranched.

Capsules

oblate, 2.2–2.5 × 2.7–3.1 mm, glabrous;

columella 1.8–2.1 mm.

oblong to ovoid, 4.4–4.9 × 3.5–4.1 mm, canescent (often with interspersed glabrescent patches);

columella 3.5–3.9 mm.

Seeds

light gray to light brown, ovoid, slightly 4-angled in cross section, 1.6–2 × 1.3–1.7 mm, with 2 or 3 well-developed transverse ridges.

mottled black and gray or light brown, oblong or slightly ovoid, dorsiventrally compressed in cross section, 2.8–4.1 × 2–2.4 mm, irregularly pitted and tuberculate;

caruncle 0.4–0.8 × 0.6–1.1 mm.

Cyathia

solitary at nodes or in small, cymose clusters at branch tips;

peduncle 1.2–8.1 mm.

peduncle 1–1.9 mm.

Cyathial

arrangement: terminal cymose branches 1, 1–2-branched;

pleiochasial bracts 2–3, opposite or whorled, wholly green, similar in shape and size to distal leaves;

dichasial bracts similar in shape to distal leaves or often highly reduced.

Euphorbia florida

Euphorbia eriantha

Phenology Flowering and fruiting summer–late fall. Flowering and fruiting year-round in response to sufficient rainfall.
Habitat Sandy flats, gravelly washes, rocky hillsides, talus slopes, desert scrub, desert grasslands, mesquite woodlands, rarely oak woodlands. Desert scrub on rocky slopes and along washes.
Elevation 600–1300 m. (2000–4300 ft.) 60–800 m. (200–2600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; Mexico (Sinaloa, Sonora)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; NM; TX; Mexico (Baja California, Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, San Luis Potosí, Sonora)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Euphorbia florida is known in the flora area from Coconino County south to the Mexican border

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 12, p. 267. FNA vol. 12, p. 321.
Parent taxa Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Poinsettia
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. dentata, E. discoidalis, E. eriantha, E. exigua, E. exserta, E. exstipulata, E. falcata, E. fendleri, 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. 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
Synonyms Chamaesyce florida
Name authority Engelmann: in W. H. Emory, Rep. U.S. Mex. Bound. 2(1): 189. (1859) Bentham: Bot. Voy. Sulphur, 51. (1844)
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