Euphorbia floridana |
Euphorbia nephradenia |
|
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greater Florida spurge |
Paria spurge, Utah spurge |
|
Habit | Herbs, perennial, with slender to moderately thickened rootstock. | Herbs, annual, with slender little-branched taproot. |
Stems | erect, 20–65 cm. |
erect to ascending, branched, dichotomous distally and slightly angled, 4–25 cm, glabrous or sparsely strigillose. |
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. |
opposite; stipules 0.1–0.2 mm; petiole 2–6 mm, glabrous or sparsely strigillose; blade usually linear- to narrowly-elliptic, occasionally ovate to obovate, 14–42 × 3–10 mm, progressively narrower distally, base attenuate, margins entire, apex usually acute, rarely obtuse, surfaces glabrous or sparsely strigillose; venation inconspicuous. |
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, 1–1.1 × 1.2–1.4 mm, strigillose at least toward apex; glands 5, green-yellow, oblong, 0.4–0.6 × 0.7–1 mm; appendages whitish to yellow-green, lunate to broadly ovate, 0.2–0.5 × 0.7–1.1 mm, entire or slightly crenulate. |
Staminate flowers | 20. |
25–30. |
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 0.7–1 mm, 2-fid at apex. |
Capsules | oblate-ovoid, 4.6–5.5 × 8.9–9 mm, strongly 3-lobed; columella 3.4–4.2 mm. |
oblate to subglobose, 2.9–3.2 × 3.2–3.4 mm, glabrous; columella 2.8–3.1 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. |
light gray to whitish, oblong-ovoid, rounded in cross section, 2.3–2.6 × 1.3–1.5 mm, dimpled and rugulose; caruncle absent. |
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). |
|
Cyathia | peduncle (except for that of 1st cyathium at base of pleiochasia) 2–5 mm (not exceeding dichasial bracts). |
solitary at distal bifurcations of stems; peduncle 0.6–2.4 mm, glabrous or strigillose. |
Euphorbia floridana |
Euphorbia nephradenia |
|
Phenology | Flowering and fruiting spring–fall. | Flowering and fruiting spring–summer. |
Habitat | Xeric pine-oak sandhills, pine scrub, sandy soils. | Saltbush, blackbrush, Ephedra-dominated scrub and desert communities. |
Elevation | 20–80 m. (100–300 ft.) | 1100–1500 m. (3600–4900 ft.) |
Distribution |
AL; FL; GA
|
CO; UT |
Discussion | Euphorbia nephradenia is the only species of the genus endemic to the Colorado Plateau of Utah and adjacent Colorado. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
|
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 314. | FNA vol. 12, p. 249. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Nummulariopsis | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Alectoroctonum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Galarhoeus floridanus | |
Name authority | Chapman: Fl. South. U.S., 401. (1860) | Barneby: Leafl. W. Bot. 10: 314. (1966) |
Web links |