Euphorbia ipecacuanhae |
Euphorbia georgiana |
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American ipecac, Carolina ipecac, ipecac spurge |
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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, often branched near base, 10–18 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 absent; blade oblanceolate, 5–12 × 3–5 mm, base attenuate, margins entire, apex rounded, surfaces glabrous; venation pinnate, 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. |
infundibular, 1–1.1 × 0.4–0.5 mm, glabrous; glands 4, crescent-shaped; 0.3–0.4 × 0.4–0.5 mm; horns divergent, 0.3–0.5 mm. |
Staminate flowers | 10–20. |
5–10. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 0.4–0.8 mm, 2-fid at apex. |
ovary glabrous; styles 0.5 mm, 2-fid. |
Capsules | globose, 2.3–3.4 × 3.5–4.2 mm, glabrous; columella 3–3.1 mm. |
depressed-ovoid, 2.2–2.4 × 3.2–3.4 mm, 3-lobed; cocci rounded, smooth, glabrous; columella 2–2.1 mm. |
Seeds | white or brown, ovoid, 2.3–2.5 × 1.5 mm, angular, with 5 longitudinal ridges, shallowly and irregularly pitted; caruncle absent. |
gray, ovoid, 1.6–1.7 × 1.4–1.6 mm, with deep, rounded pits irregularly scattered over entire surface; caruncle reniform, subconic, 0.5–0.6 × 0.6–0.8 mm. |
Cyathia | usually in terminal dichasia, sometimes pleiochasia; peduncle 10–50(–70) mm, glabrous. |
peduncle 0.3–0.5 mm. |
Cyathial | arrangement: terminal pleiochasial branches 3, 1–3 times 2-branched; pleiochasial bracts rotund-obovate, wider than distal leaves; dichasial bracts distinct, not imbricate, broadly deltate to subreniform, base truncate to emarginate, margins entire, apex rounded to bluntly acuminate; axillary cymose branches 0–1. |
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Euphorbia ipecacuanhae |
Euphorbia georgiana |
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Phenology | Flowering and fruiting early spring–early summer. | Flowering and fruiting spring. |
Habitat | Pine and pine-oak savannas, pine-oak sand hills, turkey oak scrub, open sand habitats. | Granite outcrops. |
Elevation | 0–150 m. (0–500 ft.) | 100–200 m. (300–700 ft.) |
Distribution |
CT; DC; DE; GA; MD; NC; NJ; NY; PA; SC; VA
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GA |
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 georgiana is restricted to granitic outcrops; it is known from Oglethorpe and Wilkes counties (M. H. Mayfield 2013). It is similar to E. austrotexana but has larger seeds that are much more deeply pitted and leaves that are oblanceolate instead of linear-oblanceolate to linear. It is also quite distinct from the more robust, biennial or occasionally annual E. commutata, the only other closely-related species that occurs in the area. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 247. | FNA vol. 12, p. 303. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Alectoroctonum | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | E. arundelana, Tithymalopsis ipecacuanhae | |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 455. (1753) | Mayfield: J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 7: 639, fig. 2[row 2, left]. (2013) |
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