Euphorbia lathyris |
Euphorbia micromera |
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caper spurge, euphorbe épurge, gopher plant, gopher spurge, mole plant |
desert spurge, Sonoran sandmat, tiny sandmat |
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Habit | Herbs, annual or biennial, with taproot. | Herbs, annual, with slender taproot. |
Stems | erect, unbranched or branched, 200 cm, glabrous, glaucous. |
prostrate, mat-forming, 5–35 cm, glabrous or shortly 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, 0.2–0.4 mm, pilose; petiole 0.5–1.2 mm, glabrous or pilose; blade ovate to elliptic, 6–15 × 2–4 mm, base asymmetric, one side cuneate to rounded, other side rounded, margins entire, apex obtuse, surfaces glabrous or pilose; venation obscure or 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, 0.4–0.6 × 0.5–0.9 mm, glabrous or pilose; glands 4, red, circular to oblong, 0.1 × 0.1–0.2 mm; appendages absent. |
Staminate flowers | 25–30. |
2–5. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 0.7–2.2 mm, 2-fid. |
ovary usually glabrous, rarely pilose; styles 0.1–0.2 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. |
oblong, 1.3–1.5 × 1.1–1.3 mm, usually glabrous, rarely pilose; columella 1–1.2 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. |
light gray, narrowly ovoid, 4-angled in cross section, 0.9–1 × 0.5–0.6 mm, smooth to slightly rugose or with 1–4 faint transverse ridges that do not pass through abaxial keel. |
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 0.4–1.4 mm. |
Euphorbia lathyris |
Euphorbia micromera |
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Phenology | Flowering and fruiting winter–fall. | Flowering nearly year-round in response to sufficient rainfall. |
Habitat | Roadsides, cultivated fields, stream banks, waste places. | Desert scrub, riparian woods with ash and willow, saltbush scrub, Joshua tree woodlands and grasslands, often in sandy or gravelly areas. |
Elevation | 0–1800 m. (0–5900 ft.) | -20–1800 m. (-100–5900 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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AZ; CA; NM; NV; TX; UT; Mexico (Baja California, Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Sonora)
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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. 278. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Galarhoeus lathyris, Tithymalus lathyris | Chamaesyce micromera |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 457. (1753) — (as lathyrus) | Boissier: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 5: 171. (1861) |
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