Euphorbia ipecacuanhae |
Euphorbia exigua |
|
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American ipecac, Carolina ipecac, ipecac spurge |
dwarf spurge, small spurge |
|
Habit | Herbs, perennial, with deep, stout rootstock. | Herbs, annual, with taproot. |
Stems | decumbent or slightly ascending, branched, often densely clumped, previous year's dead stems not persistent, 17–27 cm, usually glabrous, rarely sparsely villous. |
erect, unbranched or branched, 3–30 cm, glabrous. |
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. |
petiole 0–0.5 mm; blade linear, linear-oblong, or linear-spatulate, 2–30 × 1–5 mm, base cuneate or truncate, margins entire, apex acute, obtuse, or emarginate, surfaces glabrous; venation inconspicuous, only midvein prominent. |
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. |
cupulate, 0.3–0.5 × 0.6–0.8 mm, glabrous; glands 4, elliptic to crescent-shaped, 0.2–0.4 × 0.3–0.6 mm; horns divergent, 0.2–0.5 mm. |
Staminate flowers | 10–20. |
5–8. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 0.4–0.8 mm, 2-fid at apex. |
ovary glabrous; styles 0.5–0.7 mm, 2-fid. |
Capsules | globose, 2.3–3.4 × 3.5–4.2 mm, glabrous; columella 3–3.1 mm. |
subglobose, 1–1.8 × 1.3–2 mm, slightly lobed; cocci rounded, smooth, puncticulate toward abaxial line, glabrous; columella 1.1–1.4 mm. |
Seeds | white or brown, ovoid, 2.3–2.5 × 1.5 mm, angular, with 5 longitudinal ridges, shallowly and irregularly pitted; caruncle absent. |
blackish to grayish, 4-angled-ovoid, 1–1.5 × 0.5–0.7 mm, white, tuberculate; caruncle conic or subconic, 0.1–0.3 × 0.1–0.3 mm. |
Cyathia | usually in terminal dichasia, sometimes pleiochasia; peduncle 10–50(–70) mm, glabrous. |
peduncle 0–2 mm. |
Cyathial | arrangement: terminal pleiochasial branches 3–5, each 1–3 times 2-branched; pleiochasial bracts similar in shape and size to or sometimes slightly longer and wider than distal leaves; dichasial bracts distinct, linear, or linear-lanceolate, or lanceolate-ovate, base rounded to subcordate, margins entire, apex acute; axillary cymose branches 0–5. |
|
Euphorbia ipecacuanhae |
Euphorbia exigua |
|
Phenology | Flowering and fruiting early spring–early summer. | Flowering and fruiting summer–fall. |
Habitat | Pine and pine-oak savannas, pine-oak sand hills, turkey oak scrub, open sand habitats. | Edges of gardens, roadsides, waste places. |
Elevation | 0–150 m. (0–500 ft.) | 0–1500 m. (0–4900 ft.) |
Distribution |
CT; DC; DE; GA; MD; NC; NJ; NY; PA; SC; VA
|
CA; NY; WV; BC; NS; ON; Europe; w Asia; n Africa; Atlantic Islands (Macaronesia) [Introduced in North America] |
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 exigua can be easily distinguished from other annual species of the genus in the flora area by its tuberculate seeds. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 247. | FNA vol. 12, p. 302. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Alectoroctonum | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | E. arundelana, Tithymalopsis ipecacuanhae | Tithymalus exiguus |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 455. (1753) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 456. (1753) |
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