Euphorbia lathyris |
Euphorbia conferta |
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caper spurge, euphorbe épurge, gopher plant, gopher spurge, mole plant |
Everglade key sandmat |
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Habit | Herbs, annual or biennial, with taproot. | Herbs, annual, with taproot. |
Stems | erect, unbranched or branched, 200 cm, glabrous, glaucous. |
prostrate, ascending, to erect, 10–45 cm, pilose. |
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 distinct, subulate, 1–2 mm, pilose; petiole 0.9–1.5 mm, pilose; blade oblanceolate to elliptic, 3–10 × 1–4 mm, base asymmetric, obtuse to hemicordate, margins coarsely serrate, sometimes revolute, apex rounded to acute, abaxial surface sparsely hispidulous to strigillose (densely so on young leaves), adaxial surface glabrous; 3-veined from base but 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, 1.1–1.4 × 0.5–0.7 mm, pilose; glands 4, red, narrowly reniform, 0.1 × 0.2–0.4 mm; appendages pink to red, larger 2 petal-like, smaller 2 elliptic, 0.4–1 × 0.3–0.5 mm, distal margin erose. |
Staminate flowers | 25–30. |
5–8. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 0.7–2.2 mm, 2-fid. |
ovary pilose; styles 0.4–0.8 mm, 2-fid at apex. |
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. |
conic or truncate-ovoid, 1–1.2 mm diam., pilose; columella 0.9–1.1 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. |
orange-brown, glaucous, oblong, 4-angled in cross section, 0.7–0.8 × 0.4–0.5 mm, slightly rugose and with 3–4 transverse ridges. |
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 (appearing clustered at points of new growth); peduncle 0.4–0.6 mm. |
Euphorbia lathyris |
Euphorbia conferta |
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Phenology | Flowering and fruiting winter–fall. | Flowering and fruiting year-round. |
Habitat | Roadsides, cultivated fields, stream banks, waste places. | Sandy, disturbed, wet areas, often roadsides. |
Elevation | 0–1800 m. (0–5900 ft.) | 0–10 m. (0–0 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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FL |
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 conferta is known only from Broward, Miami-Dade, and Monroe counties in southern Florida. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 304. | FNA vol. 12, p. 264. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Galarhoeus lathyris, Tithymalus lathyris | Chamaesyce conferta |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 457. (1753) — (as lathyrus) | (Small) B. E. Smith: J. Elisha Mitchell Sci. Soc. 62: 82. (1946) |
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