Euphorbia lathyris |
Euphorbia corollata |
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caper spurge, euphorbe épurge, gopher plant, gopher spurge, mole plant |
eastern flowering spurge, flowering spurge, floweringspurge euphorbia |
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Habit | Herbs, annual or biennial, with taproot. | Herbs, perennial, with deep, spreading rootstock. |
Stems | erect, unbranched or branched, 200 cm, glabrous, glaucous. |
erect or ascending, usually unbranched, occasionally few branched, solitary or few, previous year's dead stems not persistent, 20–100 cm, glabrous or slightly pilose to villous. |
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. |
alternate, ascending; stipules 0.1–0.2 mm; petiole minute or absent; blade oblanceolate, obovate, or elliptic, 25–55 × 5–12 mm, base cuneate to rounded, margins entire, occasionally slightly revolute, apex rounded to subacute, abaxial surface glabrous or pilose to villous, adaxial surface usually glabrous, rarely villous; venation occasionally obscure on small leaves, 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, 1.2–1.5 × 1.2–1.5(–2) mm, glabrous or moderately puberulent (especially near glands); glands 5, green, reniform, 0.5 × 0.8–1 mm; appendages white, flabellate, 2.5–3.5(–4.5) × 2.5–3.2 mm, entire. |
Staminate flowers | 25–30. |
20–25. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 0.7–2.2 mm, 2-fid. |
ovary glabrous; styles 0.8–1.4 mm, 2-fid at apex to 1/2 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. |
globose, 2.3–3 × 3.5–4.2 mm, glabrous; columella 2–2.5 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 or light gray, ovoid, 2.5–2.8 × 2.2 mm, with shallow and coarse depressions; caruncle absent. |
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. |
in terminal pleiochasia, dichasial bracts occasionally whorled or rarely alternate; peduncle (1.5–)5–11(–13) mm (proximal to 70 mm), glabrous. |
Euphorbia lathyris |
Euphorbia corollata |
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Phenology | Flowering and fruiting winter–fall. | Flowering and fruiting early summer–fall. |
Habitat | Roadsides, cultivated fields, stream banks, waste places. | Prairies, open fields, upland woods, glades, barrens, borders of swamps, roadsides, disturbed sites. |
Elevation | 0–1800 m. (0–5900 ft.) | 0–1300 m. (0–4300 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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AL; AR; CT; DE; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; NC; NE; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; VA; VT; WI; WV; ON
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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 corollata is morphologically variable and widely distributed across a large part of eastern North America. The species appears to be expanding its range, as adventive populations have been reported from disturbed habitats at the northern edge of its range in Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, South Dakota, and Vermont. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 304. | FNA vol. 12, p. 244. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Alectoroctonum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Galarhoeus lathyris, Tithymalus lathyris | E. corollata var. molle, E. corollata var. viridiflora, E. marilandica, E. olivacea, Tithymalopsis corollata, T. olivacea |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 457. (1753) — (as lathyrus) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 459. (1753) |
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