Euphorbia lathyris |
Euphorbia albomarginata |
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caper spurge, euphorbe épurge, gopher plant, gopher spurge, mole plant |
rattlesnake sandmat, rattlesnake weed, white-margin sandmat or sandwort, whitemargin sandmat |
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Habit | Herbs, annual or biennial, with taproot. | Herbs, perennial, with moderately to strongly thickened rootstock. |
Stems | erect, unbranched or branched, 200 cm, glabrous, glaucous. |
prostrate, occasionally mat-forming, frequently rooting at nodes, 10–80 cm, glabrous. |
Leaves | opposite, decussate; petiole absent; blade linear to oblong-lanceolate, 30–120 × 3–25 mm, base acute, rounded, cordate or clasping, margins entire, apex acute or subobtuse, sometimes mucronate, surfaces glabrous, abaxial ± glaucous; venation pinnate, midvein prominent. |
opposite; stipules connate into conspicuous, deltate or ovate scale, white, 0.4–1(–2) mm, glabrous; petiole less than 1 mm, glabrous; blade ovate, oblong or orbiculate, 3–8(–15) × 3–7 mm, base strongly asymmetric, obtuse to hemicordate, margins whitish, entire, apex obtuse, rarely mucronulate, surfaces often with red blotch in center, glabrous; 3-veined from base but usually only midvein conspicuous. |
Involucre | campanulate, 1.2–2.3 × 1.4–2.5 mm, glabrous; glands 4, elliptic, 0.3–0.6 × 1–1.3 mm; horns divergent, thick, tips rounded, dilated, 0.5–1.4 mm. |
campanulate, 0.8–1.1 × 0.9–2 mm, glabrous; glands 4, greenish yellow to red, usually oblong to reniform, rarely subcircular, 0.2–0.5 × (0.2–)0.3–0.8 mm; appendages white to pink, flabellate to oblong, 0.3–1 × 0.6–1.3 mm, distal margin entire or crenulate to erose. |
Staminate flowers | 25–30. |
15–30. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 0.7–2.2 mm, 2-fid. |
ovary glabrous; styles 0.3–0.7 mm, 2-fid nearly entire length. |
Capsules | depressed-globose, 9–12 × 12–16 mm, deeply 3-lobed, tardily dehiscent and appearing indehiscent, mesocarp spongy; cocci rounded, smooth, glabrous; columella 4–5.2 mm. |
broadly ovoid, 1.1–2.3 × 1.2–2 mm, glabrous; columella 1.1–1.6 mm. |
Seeds | brownish or blackish, oblong, 4.5–6 × 3–4.2 mm, rugose, irregularly reticulate; caruncle substipitate, hat-shaped, 1.6–2 × 1.2–1.5 mm. |
white to gray or brownish red, oblong-ovoid, 4-angled in cross section, 1–1.7 × 0.5–0.8 mm, smooth. |
Cyathial | arrangement: terminal pleiochasial branches 2–4, each 1–2 times 2-branched; pleiochasial bracts cordate-lanceolate, shorter and wider than distal leaves; dichasial bracts distinct, ovate-oblong to lanceolate, base subcordate, margins entire, apex acute; axillary cymose branches 0–10. |
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Cyathia | peduncle 0–0.5 mm. |
solitary at distal nodes; peduncle 1–4 mm. |
Euphorbia lathyris |
Euphorbia albomarginata |
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Phenology | Flowering and fruiting winter–fall. | Flowering and fruiting year-round. |
Habitat | Roadsides, cultivated fields, stream banks, waste places. | Disturbed areas in desert scrub, grasslands, mesquite woodlands, chaparral. |
Elevation | 0–1800 m. (0–5900 ft.) | 0–2300 m. (0–7500 ft.) |
Distribution |
AZ; CA; CT; ID; IL; MA; MD; MT; NC; OH; OR; PA; SC; TN; TX; VA; WA; WV; BC; ON; QC; Europe; Asia; Africa [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Mexico, South America, Australia]
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AZ; CA; CO; NM; NV; OK; TX; UT; Mexico [Introduced in Pacific Islands (Hawaii)]
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Discussion | Euphorbia lathyris is most likely native to the central and eastern Mediterranean region, but it is widely cultivated and often locally escaped in temperate regions worldwide, as in the flora area. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Euphorbia albomarginata is native to northern and central Mexico and the southwestern and south-central United States. The species occurs in a variety of habitats in western North America and in some areas is quite weedy. It has been recorded as a waif in Louisiana. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 304. | FNA vol. 12, p. 259. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Galarhoeus lathyris, Tithymalus lathyris | Chamaesyce albomarginata |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 457. (1753) — (as lathyrus) | Torrey & A. Gray: in War Department [U.S.], Pacif. Railr. Rep. 2(4): 174. (1857) |
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