Euphorbia hypericifolia |
Euphorbia villifera |
|
---|---|---|
graceful sandmat, graceful spurge |
hairy spurge |
|
Habit | Herbs, annual, with taproot. | Herbs, annual or perennial, with slender taproot or thickened, woody rootstock. |
Stems | erect to ascending, 15–50 cm, glabrous. |
usually erect to ascending, rarely prostrate to decumbent, 10–30 cm, papillate, usually villous, sometimes 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. |
opposite; stipules distinct, filiform, usually undivided, rarely divided into 2–3 segments), 0.3–0.7 mm, glabrous, papillate; petiole 0.6–1.8 mm, usually villous, rarely glabrous; blade ovate, 3–12 × 2–10 mm, base asymmetric, rounded to slightly cordate, margins entire or serrulate, apex acute to obtuse, surfaces usually villous, rarely glabrous; only midvein conspicuous. |
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. |
campanulate, 0.7–0.9 × 0.6–1 mm, glabrous or pilose; glands 4, pink, oval, oblong, or trapezoidal, 0.1–0.2 × 0.2 mm; appendages white to pink, flabellate, oblong, ovate, or nearly rectangular, 0.2–0.4 × 0.2–0.6 mm, distal margin entire. |
Staminate flowers | (0–)2–20. |
10–25. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 0.4 mm, 2-fid 1/2 length. |
ovary glabrous; styles 0.3–0.5 mm, 2-fid 1/2 to nearly entire length. |
Capsules | depressed-globoid, 1.3–1.4 × 1.1–1.5 mm, glabrous; columella 1–1.1 mm. |
oblate-deltoid, cocci often elongated and terminating in an empty portion, 1.5–2 × 2.1–3.1 mm, glabrous; columella 0.9–1.5 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. |
gray-brown to red-brown, ovoid-oblong, weakly 4-angled in cross section, 1–1.4 × 0.6–0.8 mm, smooth, faintly rugose, or with inconspicuous transverse ridges. |
Cyathia | in dense, axillary and terminal, capitate glomerules with reduced, bractlike leaves subtending cyathia; peduncle 0.5–1.8 mm. |
solitary at distal nodes; peduncles 0–1.8 mm. |
Euphorbia hypericifolia |
Euphorbia villifera |
|
Phenology | Flowering and fruiting early spring–late fall. | Flowering and fruiting early spring–early winter. |
Habitat | Open, disturbed areas, nurseries. | Riparian forests with walnuts and sycamores, juniper woodlands, pine-oak woodlands, mostly on limestone substrates. |
Elevation | 0–200 m. (0–700 ft.) | 100–1400 m. (300–4600 ft.) |
Distribution |
AL; AR; FL; GA; LA; OK; SC; TX; Central America; South America; West Indies [Introduced in Asia, Pacific Islands]
|
TX; Mexico; Central America |
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.) |
Although Euphorbia villifera has been reported from New Mexico (W. C. Martin and C. R. Hutchins 1980), no vouchers to verify its presence there were located. In Texas, E. villifera is known from the Edwards Plateau westward into the trans-Pecos region. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 272. | FNA vol. 12, p. 293. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Chamaesyce glomerifera, C. hypericifolia, E. glomerifera | Chamaesyce stanfieldii, C. villifera, E. stanfieldii, E. villifera var. nuda |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 454. (1753) | Scheele: Linnaea 22: 153. (1849) |
Web links |