Euphorbia ipecacuanhae |
Euphorbia setiloba |
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American ipecac, Carolina ipecac, ipecac spurge |
fringe spurge, shaggy spurge, Yuma sandmat |
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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. |
prostrate, mat-forming, 5–50 cm, villous with glistening glandular hairs. |
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, filiform, rudimentary to 0.2 mm, glabrous or sparsely villous with glistening glandular hairs; petiole 0.5–1.5 mm, villous; blade oblong, ovate, or elliptic, 3–7 × 2–4 mm, base asymmetric, rounded, margins entire, apex obtuse, surfaces villous; weakly 3-veined from base, commonly 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 or urceolate, 0.7–1 × 0.5–0.8 mm, villous; glands 4, red to pink, oblong to slightly reniform, 0.1–0.2 × 0.2–0.3 mm; appendages white to pink, deeply incised into 3–6 triangular to subulate, attenuate, acute segments, 0.3–0.6 × 0.6–1 mm, segments entire. |
Staminate flowers | 10–20. |
3–7. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 0.4–0.8 mm, 2-fid at apex. |
ovary villous; 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 to ovoid, 1–1.2 mm diam., villous; columella 0.9–1.1 mm. |
Seeds | white or brown, ovoid, 2.3–2.5 × 1.5 mm, angular, with 5 longitudinal ridges, shallowly and irregularly pitted; caruncle absent. |
pink to light gray, narrowly ovoid, 4-angled in cross section, 0.8–1 × 0.5–0.6 mm, dimpled or with faint transverse ridges that do not pass through abaxial keel. |
Cyathia | usually in terminal dichasia, sometimes pleiochasia; peduncle 10–50(–70) mm, glabrous. |
solitary at distal nodes, nodes often congested toward tips of branches; peduncle 0.2–1.6 mm. |
Euphorbia ipecacuanhae |
Euphorbia setiloba |
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Phenology | Flowering and fruiting early spring–early summer. | Flowering nearly year-round in response to sufficient moisture. |
Habitat | Pine and pine-oak savannas, pine-oak sand hills, turkey oak scrub, open sand habitats. | Desert scrub, blackbrush scrub, Joshua tree woodlands, grasslands, often in sandy areas. |
Elevation | 0–150 m. (0–500 ft.) | 20–1600 m. (100–5200 ft.) |
Distribution |
CT; DC; DE; GA; MD; NC; NJ; NY; PA; SC; VA
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AZ; CA; NM; NV; TX; UT; Mexico (Baja California, Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Durango, Sinaloa, Sonora)
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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.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 247. | FNA vol. 12, p. 288. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Alectoroctonum | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | E. arundelana, Tithymalopsis ipecacuanhae | Chamaesyce setiloba |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 455. (1753) | Engelmann: in War Department [U.S.], Pacif. Railr. Rep. 5(2): 364. (1857) |
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