Euphorbia ipecacuanhae |
Euphorbia nephradenia |
|
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American ipecac, Carolina ipecac, ipecac spurge |
Paria spurge, Utah spurge |
|
Habit | Herbs, perennial, with deep, stout rootstock. | Herbs, annual, with slender little-branched 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, branched, dichotomous distally and slightly angled, 4–25 cm, glabrous or sparsely strigillose. |
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 0.1–0.2 mm; petiole 2–6 mm, glabrous or sparsely strigillose; blade usually linear- to narrowly-elliptic, occasionally ovate to obovate, 14–42 × 3–10 mm, progressively narrower distally, base attenuate, margins entire, apex usually acute, rarely obtuse, surfaces glabrous or sparsely strigillose; venation inconspicuous. |
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, 1–1.1 × 1.2–1.4 mm, strigillose at least toward apex; glands 5, green-yellow, oblong, 0.4–0.6 × 0.7–1 mm; appendages whitish to yellow-green, lunate to broadly ovate, 0.2–0.5 × 0.7–1.1 mm, entire or slightly crenulate. |
Staminate flowers | 10–20. |
25–30. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 0.4–0.8 mm, 2-fid at apex. |
ovary glabrous; styles 0.7–1 mm, 2-fid at apex. |
Capsules | globose, 2.3–3.4 × 3.5–4.2 mm, glabrous; columella 3–3.1 mm. |
oblate to subglobose, 2.9–3.2 × 3.2–3.4 mm, glabrous; columella 2.8–3.1 mm. |
Seeds | white or brown, ovoid, 2.3–2.5 × 1.5 mm, angular, with 5 longitudinal ridges, shallowly and irregularly pitted; caruncle absent. |
light gray to whitish, oblong-ovoid, rounded in cross section, 2.3–2.6 × 1.3–1.5 mm, dimpled and rugulose; caruncle absent. |
Cyathia | usually in terminal dichasia, sometimes pleiochasia; peduncle 10–50(–70) mm, glabrous. |
solitary at distal bifurcations of stems; peduncle 0.6–2.4 mm, glabrous or strigillose. |
Euphorbia ipecacuanhae |
Euphorbia nephradenia |
|
Phenology | Flowering and fruiting early spring–early summer. | Flowering and fruiting spring–summer. |
Habitat | Pine and pine-oak savannas, pine-oak sand hills, turkey oak scrub, open sand habitats. | Saltbush, blackbrush, Ephedra-dominated scrub and desert communities. |
Elevation | 0–150 m. (0–500 ft.) | 1100–1500 m. (3600–4900 ft.) |
Distribution |
CT; DC; DE; GA; MD; NC; NJ; NY; PA; SC; VA
|
CO; UT |
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 nephradenia is the only species of the genus endemic to the Colorado Plateau of Utah and adjacent Colorado. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 247. | FNA vol. 12, p. 249. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Alectoroctonum | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Alectoroctonum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | E. arundelana, Tithymalopsis ipecacuanhae | |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 455. (1753) | Barneby: Leafl. W. Bot. 10: 314. (1966) |
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