Euphorbia lathyris |
Euphorbia lata |
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caper spurge, euphorbe épurge, gopher plant, gopher spurge, mole plant |
broadleaf spurge, hoary sandmat |
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Habit | Herbs, annual or biennial, with taproot. | Herbs, perennial, with moderately thickened to robust rootstock. |
Stems | erect, unbranched or branched, 200 cm, glabrous, glaucous. |
ascending to erect, or prostrate, 10–25 cm, strigose to short-sericeous or ± 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. |
opposite; stipules distinct, filiform, 0.8–1.3 mm, strigose to short-sericeous or ± villous; petiole 0.5–2 mm, densely strigose to short-sericeous or ± villous; blade narrowly to broadly ovate-deltate, older ones often falcate, 4–12 × 3–7 mm, base asymmetric, obliquely rounded to obtuse, noticeably wider on one side, margins entire, often ± revolute, apex broadly acute, surfaces strigose to short-sericeous or ± villous; obscurely 3–5-veined from base, midvein prominent abaxially. |
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. |
broadly campanulate, 2–2.5 × 2.2–2.6, strigose; glands 4, greenish, oblong to semilunate, 0.2–0.7 × 0.6–1 mm; appendages rudimentary or white, forming narrow band, (0–)0.1–0.2 × (0–)0.6–1 mm, distal margin entire or crenate. |
Staminate flowers | 25–30. |
25–35. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 0.7–2.2 mm, 2-fid. |
ovary densely strigose to short-sericeous or ± villous; styles dark purplish, 0.8–1.2 mm, 2-fid 1/2 to 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. |
ovoid, 1.9–2.3 × 2–2.4 mm, strigose to short-sericeous or ± villous; columella 1.7–2.2 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. |
whitish, oblong, 4-angled in cross section, faces concave, 1.5–1.8(–2) × 0.6–0.9 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 1–3 mm. |
2n | = 28, 56. |
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Euphorbia lathyris |
Euphorbia lata |
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Phenology | Flowering and fruiting winter–fall. | Flowering and fruiting spring–fall. |
Habitat | Roadsides, cultivated fields, stream banks, waste places. | Mountain slopes, canyons, basins, rocky prairies, roadsides, disturbed sites, usually in calcareous soils, sometimes in igneous-derived, sandy or rocky soils. |
Elevation | 0–1800 m. (0–5900 ft.) | 600–2200 m. (2000–7200 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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CO; KS; NM; OK; TX; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila)
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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.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 304. | FNA vol. 12, p. 275. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Galarhoeus lathyris, Tithymalus lathyris | E. dilatata, Chamaesyce lata, E. rinconis |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 457. (1753) — (as lathyrus) | Engelmann: in W. H. Emory, Rep. U.S. Mex. Bound. 2(1): 188. (1859) |
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