Euphorbia ipecacuanhae |
Euphorbia helleri |
|
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American ipecac, Carolina ipecac, ipecac spurge |
Heller's 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. |
ascending, branched proximally, 15–30 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 usually 1–3 mm, absent distally; blade spatulate, 6–15 × 3–5 mm, base broadly attenuate, margins entire, apex usually obtuse to rounded, sometimes retuse, 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. |
campanulate, 0.9–1.2 × 0.7–1 mm, glabrous; glands 4, elliptic, 0.1–0.2 × 0.3–0.4 mm; horns slightly divergent, 0.1–0.2 mm. |
Staminate flowers | 10–20. |
8–10. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 0.4–0.8 mm, 2-fid at apex. |
ovary glabrous; styles 0.4–0.5 mm, 2-fid. |
Capsules | globose, 2.3–3.4 × 3.5–4.2 mm, glabrous; columella 3–3.1 mm. |
depressed-globose, 2.1–2.5 × 2.5–3 mm, 3-lobed; cocci flattened, smooth, glabrous; columella 1.2–1.7 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 to light gray, ovoid, 1.4–1.6 × 1–1.2 mm, smooth; caruncle 2-lobed, thin, 0.4 × 0.7 mm. |
Cyathia | usually in terminal dichasia, sometimes pleiochasia; peduncle 10–50(–70) mm, glabrous. |
peduncle 0.2–0.4 mm. |
Cyathial | arrangement: terminal pleiochasial branches 3, each 1–5 times 2-branched; pleiochasial bracts oblong, similar in size to distal leaves; dichasial bracts distinct, orbiculate-ovate to nearly reniform, subpandurate, base broadly cuneate to truncate, margins entire, apex obtuse, mucronate; axillary cymose branches 0–5. |
|
Euphorbia ipecacuanhae |
Euphorbia helleri |
|
Phenology | Flowering and fruiting early spring–early summer. | Flowering and fruiting late winter–spring. |
Habitat | Pine and pine-oak savannas, pine-oak sand hills, turkey oak scrub, open sand habitats. | Forests, stream banks, roadsides, shaded areas with sandy, calcareous soils. |
Elevation | 0–150 m. (0–500 ft.) | 0–50 m. (0–200 ft.) |
Distribution |
CT; DC; DE; GA; MD; NC; NJ; NY; PA; SC; VA
|
LA; TX; Mexico (Nuevo León) |
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.) |
The smooth, white to light gray seeds of Euphorbia helleri easily distinguish it from other annual members of subg. Esula in North America. Collections of E. helleri have been made near Brownsville, Texas, and thus it is possible that the species occurs in northern Tamaulipas, Mexico. The Louisiana record (Webster Parish) likely represents introduced plants. (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 | Tithymalus helleri |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 455. (1753) | Millspaugh: Bot. Gaz. 26: 268, fig. [p. 270]. (1898) |
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