Euphorbia lathyris |
Euphorbia austrotexana |
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caper spurge, euphorbe épurge, gopher plant, gopher spurge, mole plant |
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Habit | Herbs, annual or biennial, with taproot. | Herbs, annual, with taproot. | ||||
Stems | erect, unbranched or branched, 200 cm, glabrous, glaucous. |
erect, usually branched near base, 6–22 cm, glabrous. |
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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. |
petiole absent; blade linear to slightly lanceolate or linear-oblanceolate, 5–18 × 0.5–2.5 mm, base linear attenuate, margins entire, apex rounded to obtuse or acute, surfaces glabrous; venation pinnate, midvein prominent. |
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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. |
infundibular, 0.8–1.1 × 0.6–0.9 mm, glabrous; glands 4, crescent-shaped; 0.2–0.4 × 0.5–0.6 mm; horns divergent, 0.5–0.7 mm. |
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Staminate flowers | 25–30. |
5–10. |
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Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 0.7–2.2 mm, 2-fid. |
ovary glabrous; styles 0.3–0.5 mm, 2-fid. |
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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. |
ovoid-globose, 1.8–2.2 × 3–3.2 mm, slightly 3-lobed; cocci rounded, smooth, glabrous; columella 1.5–2 mm. |
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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, ellipsoid, 1.4–1.7 × 1–1.3 mm, with deep, irregular to rounded, shallow to concave depressions over entire surface; caruncle reniform-ovate, depressed-conic, 0.5–0.7 × 0.7–1 mm. |
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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. |
arrangement: terminal pleiochasial branches 3, 1–3 times 2-branched; pleiochasial bracts similar in shape to but slightly shorter and wider than distal leaves; dichasial bracts distinct, not imbricate, reniform-ovate to subdeltate-ovate or broadly ovate-lanceolate, base obliquely truncate to rounded, margins entire, apex obtuse to broadly acuminate; axillary cymose branches 0–3. |
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Cyathia | peduncle 0–0.5 mm. |
peduncle 0–0.5 mm. |
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Euphorbia lathyris |
Euphorbia austrotexana |
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Phenology | Flowering and fruiting winter–fall. | |||||
Habitat | Roadsides, cultivated fields, stream banks, waste places. | |||||
Elevation | 0–1800 m. (0–5900 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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TX |
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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.) |
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora). Euphorbia austrotexana occurs in stabilized sandy soil in the south Texas plains (M. H. Mayfield 2013). It is similar to E. longicruris but differs from that species in its often narrowly oblanceolate to linear leaves and its white to gray, ellipsoid seeds that are covered with minute, concave depressions. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 304. | FNA vol. 12, p. 298. | ||||
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | Galarhoeus lathyris, Tithymalus lathyris | |||||
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 457. (1753) — (as lathyrus) | Mayfield: J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 7: 634, figs. 1, 2[row 3, left & center]. (2013) | ||||
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