Euphorbia florida |
Euphorbia serpens |
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Chiricahua Mountain sandmat |
creeping spurge, Matted sandmat, Matted spurge, round-leafed spurge |
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Habit | Herbs, annual, with slender taproot. | Herbs, annual, with slender taproot. |
Stems | erect, 15–60 cm, usually glabrous, rarely puberulent. |
prostrate, frequently mat-forming and rooting at nodes, 15–50 cm, glabrous. |
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. |
opposite; stipules connate into conspicuous, deltate scale, white to pink, membranaceous, 0.5–1(–1.2) mm, glabrous; petiole less than 1 mm, glabrous; blade ovate, oblong or orbiculate, 2–7(–9) × 2–6 mm, base asymmetric, rounded to subcordate, margins entire, apex rounded, surfaces without red blotch, glabrous; usually 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. |
campanulate to turbinate, 0.3–0.7(–1) × 0.4–0.6 mm, glabrous; glands 4, yellow, oblong, 0.1 × 0.2 mm; appendages white to pinkish, equal, forming narrow rim at edge of gland, 0.1–0.2 × 0.2–0.3 mm, distal margin entire or crenulate. |
Staminate flowers | 25–35. |
5–10. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 0.8–1.4 mm, 2-fid entire length. |
ovary glabrous; styles 0.2 mm, 2-fid 1/2 to nearly entire length. |
Capsules | oblate, 2.2–2.5 × 2.7–3.1 mm, glabrous; columella 1.8–2.1 mm. |
broadly ovoid, oblate, or subglobose, 1.3–1.4 × 1.3–1.7 mm, glabrous; columella (0.9–)1–1.2 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. |
white to gray or light pink, ovoid, bluntly 3–4-angled in cross section, 0.7–1.1 × 0.4–0.7 mm, smooth. |
Cyathia | solitary at nodes or in small, cymose clusters at branch tips; peduncle 1.2–8.1 mm. |
solitary at distal nodes; peduncle 0.5–1(–2.5) mm. |
Euphorbia florida |
Euphorbia serpens |
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Phenology | Flowering and fruiting summer–late fall. | Flowering and fruiting year-round (in warmer areas) or summer (in temperate regions). |
Habitat | Sandy flats, gravelly washes, rocky hillsides, talus slopes, desert scrub, desert grasslands, mesquite woodlands, rarely oak woodlands. | Mostly sandy or well-drained soils, desert scrub, coastal scrub, chaparral, oak and juniper woodlands, sand dunes, riparian forests, mesquite grasslands, prairies, coniferous and deciduous hardwood forests, disturbed areas. |
Elevation | 600–1300 m. (2000–4300 ft.) | 0–2000 m. (0–6600 ft.) |
Distribution |
AZ; Mexico (Sinaloa, Sonora)
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AL; AR; AZ; CA; CO; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MI; MO; MS; MT; ND; NE; NJ; NM; OH; OK; PA; SD; TN; TX; UT; VT; WY; ON; SK; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies; Bermuda [Introduced in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia]
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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.) |
Euphorbia serpens is one of the most widespread species of the genus in the New World. While it may be indigenous to a portion of the flora area, probably in the warmer, southern part of its range, it is weedy and has likely been introduced in many parts of the flora area, such as Canada and the eastern United States. It is also widely distributed in the Old World, where it is certainly introduced. The strictly prostrate habit with stems rooting at the nodes is characteristic. Euphorbia serpens is often confused with E. albomarginata, a species distributed in the southwestern United States; in addition to the features mentioned in the key, an easy and reliable way to distinguish between them is by the size of the involucral gland appendages: those of E. albomarginata are conspicuous to the naked eye, whereas those of E. serpens are inconspicuous. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 267. | FNA vol. 12, p. 286. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Chamaesyce florida | Chamaesyce serpens |
Name authority | Engelmann: in W. H. Emory, Rep. U.S. Mex. Bound. 2(1): 189. (1859) | Kunth: in A. von Humboldt et al., Nov. Gen. Sp. 2(fol.): 41; 2(qto.): 52. (1817) |
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