Euphorbia hexagona |
Euphorbia parishii |
|
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six-angle spurge |
Parish's sandmat |
|
Habit | Herbs, annual, with taproot. | Herbs or subshrubs, perennial, with thickened and often woody rootstock. |
Stems | erect, unbranched or branched, 30–70(–100) cm, sparsely hispid, occasionally densely so at distal nodes. |
prostrate, sometimes forming dense mounds, 10–50 cm, glabrous. |
Leaves | opposite; stipules (0–)0.1 mm; petiole 1–4 mm, pilose; blade linear-filiform, linear, or elliptic, 21–40 × 0.9–7.5 mm, base attenuate, margins entire, apex acute, abaxial surface sparsely hispidulous to strigillose, adaxial surface glabrous; venation obscure, only midvein conspicuous. |
opposite; stipules distinct, subulate-filiform, 0.3–0.9 mm, pilose; petiole 0.3–1.2 mm, glabrous; blade usually ovate, rarely oblong, 2–7 × 1–5 mm, base usually asymmetric, rounded to hemicordate, margins entire, apex usually obtuse, rarely acute, surfaces glabrous; only midvein conspicuous. |
Involucre | campanulate, 1–1.5 × (1–)1.5–1.8 mm, hispid; glands 5, green to deep red, elliptic to reniform, 0.5 × 0.8–1 mm; appendages white to green, tinged red, deltate to ovate, 0.7–1.7 × (0.9–)1.3–1.5 mm, entire. |
obconic to campanulate, 1–1.4 × 0.9–1.3 mm, glabrous except for pilose lobes; glands 4, pink to maroon, circular, 0.3–0.4 × 0.3–0.4 mm; appendages absent. |
Staminate flowers | 15–30(–40). |
40–50. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 0.7–1.1 mm, 2-fid nearly entire length. |
ovary glabrous; styles 0.3–0.6 mm, 2-fid 1/2 length. |
Capsules | subglobose to broadly ovoid, 4.7–6.5 × 4.9–6.5(–7.1) mm, glabrous; columella 3.5–4.5 mm. |
ovoid to oblate-ovoid, 1.6–1.7 × 1.6–1.9 mm, glabrous; columella 1.2–1.5 mm. |
Seeds | dark brown or dark gray, ovoid, 3.4 × 2.7 mm, rugose, whitish glaucous; caruncle absent. |
whitish to light brown, ovoid, 4-angled in cross section, 1.2–1.4 × 0.6–0.8 mm, rugose or with indistinct, irregular, low transverse ridges. |
Cyathia | solitary in leaf axils or in terminal cymes or dichasia; peduncle 1–2.1 mm, strigillose. |
solitary at distal nodes; peduncle 0.1–0.6(–2.2) mm. |
Euphorbia hexagona |
Euphorbia parishii |
|
Phenology | Flowering and fruiting late summer–fall. | Flowering and fruiting fall–summer. |
Habitat | Sand prairies, other sandy soil habitats, stream banks, sand bars, damp places. | Desert scrub, often with creosote bush, disturbed roadsides, rocky soils. |
Elevation | 200–1300 m. (700–4300 ft.) | -90–600 m. (-300–2000 ft.) |
Distribution |
AR; CO; IA; IL; KS; MN; MO; MT; NE; NM; OK; SD; TX; WI; WY
|
CA; NV |
Discussion | Euphorbia hexagona is native to the central United States and is most common from southern South Dakota to Oklahoma and northern Texas. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Euphorbia parishii is common in the Death Valley region of southern California, where it is often encountered well below sea level. The species is frequently confused with E. micromera and E. polycarpa but differs from the former in being a more robust plant with larger cyathia and from the latter in lacking involucral gland appendages. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 247. | FNA vol. 12, p. 280. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Alectoroctonum | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Chamaesyce parishii, E. polycarpa var. parishii | |
Name authority | Nuttall ex Sprengel: Syst. Veg. 3: 791. (1826) | Greene: Bull. Calif. Acad. Sci. 2: 56. (1886) |
Web links |