Euphorbia graminea |
Euphorbia garberi |
|
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grassleaf spurge |
Garber's sandmat |
|
Habit | Herbs, usually annual, rarely perennial, with slender, rarely tuberous, taproot. | Herbs, perennial, with moderately thickened rootstock. |
Stems | erect or ascending, branched, 30–80(–110) cm, strigillose or glabrescent, sharply angled. |
ascending, sometimes slightly woody at base, not wiry, 1–3 mm diam., 15–50 cm, canescent. |
Leaves | usually alternate, sometimes some opposite; stipules usually 0.2–0.5 mm, rarely rudimentary; petiole 0.4–5.9 mm, strigillose; blade ovate, elliptic, linear-elliptic, or oblong, 10–83 × 3–39 mm, base attenuate, rounded, or cuneate, margins entire, apex acute or obtuse, surfaces strigillose; venation occasionally obscure on narrow leaves, midvein conspicuous. |
opposite; stipules distinct or connate at base, triangular-subulate, apex divided into 2–5 subulate to subulate-filiform segments, 0.5–0.7 mm, pilose; petiole 0.5–1.1 mm, pilose; blade ovate to oblong-elliptic, 4–9(–15) × 3–6 mm, base asymmetric, obtuse to rounded, margins usually entire, rarely very sparsely serrulate, apex usually obtuse to rounded, occasionally acute to apiculate, surfaces canescent; 3-veined from base, only midvein conspicuous. |
Involucre | campanulate or obconic, 1–1.8 × 0.8–1.7 mm, glabrous or strigillose toward rim; glands (1–)2–4, yellow to greenish, elliptic or oblong, 0.1–0.3 × 0.2–0.4 mm; appendages white to tinged purple, ovate and often hoodlike or forming narrow rim around distal margin of gland, 0.3–1.6 × 0.4–0.9 mm, entire. |
turbinate to campanulate, 0.6–0.9 × 0.5–0.9 mm, pilose; glands 4, brown, slightly concave, elliptic to subcircular, 0.1–0.3 × 0.2–0.4 mm; appendages white to pink, as narrow rim along gland, (0–)0.1–0.2 × 0.3–0.5 mm, surfaces pilose, distal margin entire or crenulate. |
Staminate flowers | 30–40. |
8–20. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 0.7–1 mm, 2-fid from 1/2 to nearly entire length. |
ovary pilose; styles 0.6–0.7 mm, 2-fid 1/2 length. |
Capsules | ovoid-oblate, 2.5–3 × 3–3.5 mm, glabrous; columella 1.6–1.9 mm. |
subglobose to broadly ovoid, 1.1–1.6 × 1.3–2.1 mm, pilose; columella 1.1–1.6 mm. |
Seeds | gray, brown, or nearly black, ovoid, circular or weakly angled in cross section, 1.5–1.7 × 1.3–1.5 mm, coarsely tuberculate with longitudinal rows of shallow pits; caruncle absent or punctiform, 0.1–0.2 mm. |
gray to reddish brown, oblong-ovoid, 4-angled in cross section, 1–1.2 × 0.6–0.8 mm, flat or obscurely wrinkled. |
Cyathia | in usually terminal, rarely axillary, dichasia, distal dichasial bracts often white; peduncle 0.4–4.5 mm (to 15 mm at first node of inflorescence), glabrous. |
solitary at nodes of short, axillary branches; peduncle 0.2–0.4 mm. |
Euphorbia graminea |
Euphorbia garberi |
|
Phenology | Flowering and fruiting year-round. | Flowering and fruiting year-round. |
Habitat | Disturbed, weedy, or urban areas. | Beach dunes, coastal rock barrens, disturbed uplands and pine rocklands. |
Elevation | 0–500 m. (0–1600 ft.) | 0–10 m. (0–0 ft.) |
Distribution |
AR; CA; FL; LA; TX; Mexico; Central America; South America [Introduced in North America; introduced also in West Indies, Asia, Pacific Islands]
|
FL |
Discussion | Euphorbia graminea occurs natively from northern South America to northern Mexico. The species is a variable and taxonomically complex entity whose boundaries are not well defined and are in need of further study. Euphorbia graminea is often weedy and has recently become established in warmer areas of the southern United States, where it will likely become more common in the future. In recent years, a cultivar of E. graminea has found considerable horticultural success and is marketed under the trade name "Diamond Frost." (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Euphorbia garberi appears to be an interspecific hybrid, but its parentage is not entirely clear (Y. Yang and P. E. Berry 2011). The taxon is closely related to E. blodgettii, E. porteriana, and E. serpens. It is restricted to Collier, Miami-Dade, and Monroe counties in southern Florida and is federally listed as threatened due to impacts from habitat loss, fire suppression, and invasive species. A. Herndon (1993) synonymized E. porteriana var. keyensis under E. garberi because of its uniformly pilose capsules, and that treatment is followed here. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 246. | FNA vol. 12, p. 268. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Alectoroctonum | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Chamaesyce adicioides, C. brachypoda, C. garberi, C. keyensis, C. mosieri, C. porteriana var. keyensis, E. porteriana var. keyensis | |
Name authority | Jacquin: Select. Stirp. Amer. Hist., 151. (1763) | Engelmann ex Chapman: Fl. South. U.S. ed. 2, 646. (1883) |
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