Euphorbia ipecacuanhae |
Euphorbia mesembrianthemifolia |
|
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American ipecac, Carolina ipecac, ipecac spurge |
coastal beach sandmat |
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Habit | Herbs, perennial, with deep, stout rootstock. | Subshrubs or shrubs, perennial, with thickened and often woody 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. |
erect to ascending, or nearly decumbent in shifting sand, 25–60 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 connate, forming conspicuous, ligulate or deltate scale, short cleft or fringed, 1–1.8 mm, glabrous; petiole 0.5–1 mm, glabrous; blade ovate to elliptic often folded along midrib, 5–12 × 3–8 mm, ± fleshy, base slightly asymmetric, truncate to cordate, partially obscuring stem, margins entire, apex usually obtuse, rarely acute, surfaces yellowish to dark green, glabrous glaucous; obscurely 3–5-veined at base, pinnate distally, 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. |
campanulate, 1–1.6 × 0.7–1.2 mm, glabrous; glands 4, brown, usually elliptic, occasionally almost round, 0.2–0.4 × 0.5–0.7 mm, fleshy; appendages white, oblong, rarely rudimentary, 0.2–0.4 × 0.5–0.9 mm, distal margin entire or undulate. |
Staminate flowers | 10–20. |
12–20. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 0.4–0.8 mm, 2-fid at apex. |
ovary glabrous; styles 0.3–0.4 mm, 2-fid 1/2 length. |
Capsules | globose, 2.3–3.4 × 3.5–4.2 mm, glabrous; columella 3–3.1 mm. |
subglobose subtended by calyxlike structure, 1.5–2 × 2.2–2.8 mm, glabrous; columella 1–1.5 mm. |
Seeds | white or brown, ovoid, 2.3–2.5 × 1.5 mm, angular, with 5 longitudinal ridges, shallowly and irregularly pitted; caruncle absent. |
ashen, broadly ovoid, angled in cross section, faces plump, convex, 1.2–1.3 × 0.9–1.2 mm, obscurely pitted. |
Cyathia | usually in terminal dichasia, sometimes pleiochasia; peduncle 10–50(–70) mm, glabrous. |
solitary at distal nodes; peduncle 0.5–1 mm. |
Euphorbia ipecacuanhae |
Euphorbia mesembrianthemifolia |
|
Phenology | Flowering and fruiting early spring–early summer. | Flowering and fruiting year-round. |
Habitat | Pine and pine-oak savannas, pine-oak sand hills, turkey oak scrub, open sand habitats. | Sandy and rocky shores, associated beach scrub. |
Elevation | 0–150 m. (0–500 ft.) | 0–10 m. (0–0 ft.) |
Distribution |
CT; DC; DE; GA; MD; NC; NJ; NY; PA; SC; VA
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FL; Mexico; West Indies; Bermuda; South America (Colombia, Venezuela) |
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 mesembrianthemifolia is found in the flora area along the sandy and rocky shores of southern Florida from Pinellas and Volusia counties southward. It is one of the few members of subg. Chamaesyce in the flora area that is a shrub or subshrub. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 247. | FNA vol. 12, p. 277. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Alectoroctonum | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | E. arundelana, Tithymalopsis ipecacuanhae | Chamaesyce buxifolia, C. mesembrianthemifolia, E. buxifolia |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 455. (1753) | Jacquin: Enum. Syst. Pl., 22. (1760) |
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