Euphorbia hypericifolia |
Euphorbia peplus |
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graceful sandmat, graceful spurge |
petty spurge |
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Habit | Herbs, annual, with taproot. | Herbs, annual, with taproot. |
Stems | erect to ascending, 15–50 cm, glabrous. |
erect, unbranched or branched, 5–30 cm, glabrous. |
Leaves | opposite; stipules connate, deltate, usually entire, sometimes laciniate-fringed at tip, 1.5–2.2 mm, glabrous; petiole 1–3 mm, glabrous; blade obliquely oblong-oblanceolate, 10–35 × 7–15 mm, base asymmetric, oblique, margins serrate or serrulate, especially toward apex, apex broadly acute, surfaces glabrous; palmately veined at base, pinnate distally. |
petiole 1–10 mm; blade obovate, oblong, or suborbiculate, 5–25 × 4–15 mm, base attenuate or cuneate, margins entire, apex obtuse, surfaces glabrous; venation pinnate, midvein prominent. |
Involucre | obconic, 0.9–1.1 × 0.4–0.9 mm, glabrous; glands 4, yellow-green to brown, stipitate, subcircular, 0.2 × 0.2 mm, occasionally nearly rudimentary; appendages absent on smaller glands or white to pink, shape highly variable, usually round to ± elliptic, 0.3–0.4 × 0.5–0.7 mm, distal margin entire. |
cupulate to slightly turbinate, 0.6–1.1 × 0.7–0.9 mm, glabrous; glands 4, elliptic, 0.2–0.3 × 0.5–0.6 mm; horns slightly convergent to divergent, 0.4–0.6 mm. |
Staminate flowers | (0–)2–20. |
10–15. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 0.4 mm, 2-fid 1/2 length. |
ovary glabrous; styles 0.1–0.2 mm, 2-fid. |
Capsules | depressed-globoid, 1.3–1.4 × 1.1–1.5 mm, glabrous; columella 1–1.1 mm. |
subglobose, 1.3–2 × 1.5–2.2 mm, slightly 3-lobed; cocci rounded, with 2 low longitudinal wings, smooth, glabrous; columella 1.1–1.3 mm. |
Seeds | with very thin whitish mucilaginous coat over light brown testa below, ovoid-triangular, bluntly 4-angled in cross section, 0.9–1.1 × 0.5 mm, with shallow irregular depressions alternating with low, smooth ridges. |
whitish or grayish, subovoid, 1–1.6 × 0.6–1 mm, abaxial faces regularly large-pitted (appearing almost alveolate), adaxial faces longitudinally sulcate; caruncle deciduous, conic, 0.2–0.5 × 0.2–0.7 mm. |
Cyathia | in dense, axillary and terminal, capitate glomerules with reduced, bractlike leaves subtending cyathia; peduncle 0.5–1.8 mm. |
peduncle 0.4–1.1 mm. |
Cyathial | arrangement: terminal pleiochasial branches 3–5, usually 2–8 times 2-branched, 1st branching level rarely 3-furcate; pleiochasial bracts similar in shape to and slightly larger than distal leaves; dichasial bracts distinct, ovate to obovate, base obtuse, margins entire, apex obtuse, usually mucronate; axillary cymose branches 0–3. |
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Euphorbia hypericifolia |
Euphorbia peplus |
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Phenology | Flowering and fruiting early spring–late fall. | Flowering and fruiting year-round. |
Habitat | Open, disturbed areas, nurseries. | Edges of gardens, weedy flower beds, roadsides, waste places, open ground near forests. |
Elevation | 0–200 m. (0–700 ft.) | 0–1500 m. (0–4900 ft.) |
Distribution |
AL; AR; FL; GA; LA; OK; SC; TX; Central America; South America; West Indies [Introduced in Asia, Pacific Islands]
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AL; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DE; IA; ID; IL; IN; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MT; NC; ND; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OR; PA; RI; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; AB; BC; MB; NB; NF; NS; ON; PE; QC; SK; Europe; w Asia [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Mexico, West Indies, Bermuda, Central America, South America, Africa, Atlantic Islands, Indian Ocean Islands, Pacific Islands, Australia]
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Discussion | Euphorbia hypericifolia is native to the New World tropics, and it is most likely adventive in the flora area (where it is most widely distributed in Florida and Texas). Reports from Arizona, California, and Maryland likely represent waifs or misidentifications. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 272. | FNA vol. 12, p. 307. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Chamaesyce glomerifera, C. hypericifolia, E. glomerifera | Esula peplus, Galarhoeus peplus, Tithymalus peplus |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 454. (1753) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 456. (1753) |
Web links |
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