Euphorbia ipecacuanhae |
Euphorbia acuta |
|
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American ipecac, Carolina ipecac, ipecac spurge |
point sandmat |
|
Habit | Herbs, perennial, with deep, stout rootstock. | Herbs, perennial, with strongly thickened rootstock. |
Stems | decumbent or slightly ascending, branched, often densely clumped, previous year's dead stems not persistent, 17–27 cm, usually glabrous, rarely sparsely villous. |
ascending to erect, 5–30 cm, uniformly and densely canescent or sericeous. |
Leaves | alternate; stipules 0.1–0.2 mm; petiole (0–)1–2 mm, glabrous; blade usually linear, obovate, or oblanceolate to orbiculate, rarely filiform, proximal greatly reduced, scalelike, 15–70 × 1.5–13 mm gradually smaller proximally, base cuneate, margins entire, apex rounded, broadly acute, or emarginate, surfaces glabrous; venation occasionally obscure on smaller leaves, midvein conspicuous. |
opposite; stipules deciduous, sometimes appearing absent, distinct, brown, linear-subulate, thin, 0.3–0.8 mm, canescent; petiole 0.4–1.2 mm, moderately to densely canescent; blade ovate to lanceolate, 6–20 × 3–8 mm, base subsymmetric, rounded to cuneate, margins entire, strongly involute, apex long-acuminate, spinulose, abaxial surface canescent to densely sericeous, adaxial surface glabrous or sparsely canescent; 3-veined from base but only midvein conspicuous. |
Involucre | yellow or yellow-green, hemispheric, 1–1.2 × 2–2.4 mm, glabrous; glands 5, yellow or yellow-green, obovate or elliptic, 0.7–0.8 × 1–1.2 mm; appendages white or green, often forming narrow rim around distal margin of gland, 0–0.2 mm, entire. |
turbinate to urceolate, 2–2.6 × 1.7–2.5 mm, villous to lanate; glands 4, yellow-green to orange or red, slightly concave, oblong-elliptic, 0.2–0.4 × 0.6–1.5 mm; appendages white, flabellate, 1.1–2.1 × 0.2–0.6 mm, distal margin shallowly and irregularly toothed. |
Staminate flowers | 10–20. |
20–25. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 0.4–0.8 mm, 2-fid at apex. |
ovary strigose, pubescent to villous; styles 0.6–0.9 mm, 2-fid 1/2 length. |
Capsules | globose, 2.3–3.4 × 3.5–4.2 mm, glabrous; columella 3–3.1 mm. |
subglobose to broadly ovoid, 2.8–3.7 mm diam., strigose, pubescent to villous; columella 2.3–3 mm. |
Seeds | white or brown, ovoid, 2.3–2.5 × 1.5 mm, angular, with 5 longitudinal ridges, shallowly and irregularly pitted; caruncle absent. |
white, ovoid, 4-angled in cross section, 2.2–2.6 × 1.1–1.4 mm, smooth to finely reticulate. |
Cyathia | usually in terminal dichasia, sometimes pleiochasia; peduncle 10–50(–70) mm, glabrous. |
solitary at distal nodes; peduncle 1.3–3.2 mm. |
2n | = 28, 48, 56. |
|
Euphorbia ipecacuanhae |
Euphorbia acuta |
|
Phenology | Flowering and fruiting early spring–early summer. | Flowering and fruiting spring–fall. |
Habitat | Pine and pine-oak savannas, pine-oak sand hills, turkey oak scrub, open sand habitats. | Desert scrub, grasslands, oak-juniper savannas, limestone, rocky, sandy, or clay soils. |
Elevation | 0–150 m. (0–500 ft.) | 400–1900 m. (1300–6200 ft.) |
Distribution |
CT; DC; DE; GA; MD; NC; NJ; NY; PA; SC; VA
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NM; TX; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila) |
Discussion | The vegetative stems of Euphorbia ipecacuanhae are often quite short in proportion to the dichasial or pleiochasial branches, thus superficially plants often appear to have mostly opposite leaves. However, careful examination of the base of the plant will reveal alternate leaves. The leaves are extremely variable in both shape and coloration, and the variation can be pronounced within a population or even on a single plant. M. J. Huft (1979) did not recognize infraspecific taxa within E. ipecacuanhae, and his treatment is followed here. This species is found on the Atlantic coastal plain. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Euphorbia acuta is easily distinguished in the field by its relatively large, strongly involute, hairy, and acutely pointed leaves. The name Euphorbia acuta Engelmann has been proposed for conservation against the earlier name E. acuta Bellardi ex Colla (P. E. Berry et al. 2011). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 247. | FNA vol. 12, p. 259. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Alectoroctonum | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | E. arundelana, Tithymalopsis ipecacuanhae | Chamaesyce acuta, E. acuta var. stenophylla, E. georgei |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 455. (1753) | Engelmann: in W. H. Emory, Rep. U.S. Mex. Bound. 2(1): 189. (1859) — name proposed for conservation |
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