Euphorbia ipecacuanhae |
Euphorbia gracillima |
|
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American ipecac, Carolina ipecac, ipecac spurge |
Mexican sandmat |
|
Habit | Herbs, perennial, with deep, stout rootstock. | Herbs, annual, with slender 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 to ascending, 5–25 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. |
opposite; stipules distinct, subulate-filiform, entire, 0.3–0.5 mm, glabrous; petiole 0.4–0.9 mm, glabrous; blade narrowly oblong to linear, often slightly falcate, 2–15 × 0.3–0.8 mm, base symmetric to subsymmetric, rounded to attenuate, margins entire, thickened and often revolute, apex acute to obtuse, surfaces glabrous; 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, 0.4–0.5 × 0.4–0.6 mm, glabrous; glands 4, yellow to pink, oblong to slightly reniform, (0–)0.1–1 × 0.1–0.2 mm; appendages white to pink, ovate to oblong, 0.2–0.4 × 0.1–0.3 mm, distal margin usually entire, rarely emarginate. |
Staminate flowers | 10–20. |
5–12. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 0.4–0.8 mm, 2-fid at apex. |
ovary glabrous; styles 0.1–0.2 mm, 2-fid 1/2 length. |
Capsules | globose, 2.3–3.4 × 3.5–4.2 mm, glabrous; columella 3–3.1 mm. |
broadly ovoid, 1.1–1.4 mm diam., glabrous; columella 0.8–1.1 mm. |
Seeds | white or brown, ovoid, 2.3–2.5 × 1.5 mm, angular, with 5 longitudinal ridges, shallowly and irregularly pitted; caruncle absent. |
orange to tan or reddish brown, narrowly ovoid, 4-angled in cross section, 0.9–1.1 × 0.5–0.6 mm, smooth. |
Cyathia | usually in terminal dichasia, sometimes pleiochasia; peduncle 10–50(–70) mm, glabrous. |
solitary at distal nodes; peduncle 0.1–0.9 mm. |
Euphorbia ipecacuanhae |
Euphorbia gracillima |
|
Phenology | Flowering and fruiting early spring–early summer. | Flowering and fruiting late summer–fall. |
Habitat | Pine and pine-oak savannas, pine-oak sand hills, turkey oak scrub, open sand habitats. | Rocky slopes and dry washes in desert scrub. |
Elevation | 0–150 m. (0–500 ft.) | 600–900 m. (2000–3000 ft.) |
Distribution |
CT; DC; DE; GA; MD; NC; NJ; NY; PA; SC; VA
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AZ; Mexico (Chihuahua, Jalisco, Sinaloa, Sonora) |
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 gracillima occurs from south-central Arizona (Pima and Pinal counties) south through northwestern Mexico. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 247. | FNA vol. 12, p. 270. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Alectoroctonum | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | E. arundelana, Tithymalopsis ipecacuanhae | Chamaesyce gracillima |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 455. (1753) | S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 21: 438. (1886) |
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