Euphorbia floridana |
Euphorbia commutata |
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greater Florida spurge |
tinted euphorbia, tinted woodland spurge |
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Habit | Herbs, perennial, with slender to moderately thickened rootstock. | Herbs, usually biennial, occasionally annual, with taproot. |
Stems | erect, 20–65 cm. |
erect or ascending, decumbent and often branched near base, 10–40 cm, glabrous. |
Leaves | petiole absent; blade linear to linear-elliptic or linear-lanceolate, 30–105 × 2–4(–7) mm, chartaceous, base attenuate, rounded, or nearly truncate, apex acute; only midvein evident. |
petiole usually 5–10 mm, 0–1 mm distally; blade usually oblanceolate to obovate, rarely ovate, 5–30 × 3–10 mm, base broadly attenuate, margins entire, apex usually obtuse to rounded, occasionally slightly retuse, surfaces glabrous; venation pinnate, midvein prominent. |
Involucre | campanulate or obconic, 1.6–3.3 × 1.8–3.1 mm, lobes ovate, 0.5–0.7 mm, ciliate, exceeded by glands; glands yellow-green, oblong to trapezoidal, 0.5–0.8 × 0.8–1.2 mm, distal margins deeply erose. |
campanulate, 1.7–2.5 × 1.5–2.5 mm, glabrous; glands 4, crescent-shaped; 0.6–1 × 0.8–1.5 mm; horns divergent, 0.5–1.1 mm. |
Staminate flowers | 20. |
9–15. |
Pistillate flowers | gynophore exserted 2.9–5.3 mm, calyxlike lobes triangular, 0.3–0.7 mm; styles connate 1/3–1/4 length, 1.1–1.7 mm. |
ovary glabrous; styles 0.9–1.3 mm, 2-fid. |
Capsules | oblate-ovoid, 4.6–5.5 × 8.9–9 mm, strongly 3-lobed; columella 3.4–4.2 mm. |
ovoid-globose, 2.5–3.2 × 3 mm, slightly lobed; cocci rounded to ± flattened, smooth, glabrous; columella 1.5–2 mm. |
Seeds | brown to blackish, depressed-globose, circular in cross section, 2.8–3 × 3.2–3.6 mm, smooth, base flattened, with punctiform depressions, apex flattened. |
white to gray, broadly oblong-elliptic to ovoid or nearly globose, 1.5–2 × 1.3–1.6 mm, strongly small-pitted; caruncle irregularly winglike, conic, 0.6–1 × 0.7–0.9 mm. |
Cyathial | arrangement: terminal pleiochasial branches 3–5, 3–16 cm, 3–5(–7) times 2-branched; pleiochasial bracts linear-lanceolate or narrowly ovate, 19–55 × 4–12 mm, margins entire, apex acute or acuminate; dichasial bracts usually ovate, lanceolate, or oblong, rarely deltate, 8–21 × 4–14 mm, margins entire, apex acute, acuminate, or rounded with mucronate tip; axillary cymose branches 1–3(–6). |
arrangement: terminal pleiochasial branches (2–)3(–4), 1–3+ times 2-branched; pleiochasial bracts similar in shape and size to distal leaves; dichasial bracts distinct to basally subconnate, not imbricate, widely ovate, rhombic, or reniform, base cordate, rarely slightly perfoliate, margins entire, apex obtuse to rounded, mucronulate; axillary cymose branches 0–5. |
Cyathia | peduncle (except for that of 1st cyathium at base of pleiochasia) 2–5 mm (not exceeding dichasial bracts). |
peduncle 0.5–1 mm. |
Euphorbia floridana |
Euphorbia commutata |
|
Phenology | Flowering and fruiting spring–fall. | Flowering and fruiting spring–summer. |
Habitat | Xeric pine-oak sandhills, pine scrub, sandy soils. | Bottomland and upland forests, bluffs and ledges, stream banks, glades, rarely fen margins. |
Elevation | 20–80 m. (100–300 ft.) | 50–1000 m. (200–3300 ft.) |
Distribution |
AL; FL; GA
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AL; AR; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KY; LA; MD; MI; MO; MS; NC; OH; OK; PA; SC; TN; VA; WI; WV; ON
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Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 314. | FNA vol. 12, p. 300. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Nummulariopsis | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Galarhoeus floridanus | Galarhoeus austrinus, G. commutatus, Tithymalus commutatus |
Name authority | Chapman: Fl. South. U.S., 401. (1860) | Engelmann: in A. Gray, Manual ed. 2, 389. (1856) |
Web links |