Euphorbia lathyris |
Euphorbia ophthalmica |
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caper spurge, euphorbe épurge, gopher plant, gopher spurge, mole plant |
Florida hammock sandmat |
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Habit | Herbs, annual or biennial, with taproot. | Herbs, usually annual, rarely short-lived perennial, with slender to slightly thickened taproot. |
Stems | erect, unbranched or branched, 200 cm, glabrous, glaucous. |
usually prostrate, rarely ascending, 6–22 cm, usually both strigillose and hirsute. |
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-filiform, undivided or divided into 2–4 narrowly triangular to linear-subulate segments, no dark, circular glands at base of stipules, 0.9–1.5 mm, pilose or strigillose; petiole 0.3–1.2 mm, glabrescent, strigillose, or sericeous; blade usually ovate or oblong, rarely subrhombic, 4–13 × 3–7 mm, base asymmetric, one side usually angled and other side rounded, margins coarsely serrulate, apex acute, surfaces often with red spot in center, strigillose or sericeous, or adaxial surface glabrescent; 3-veined from base. |
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. |
obconic, 0.5–0.7 × 0.4–0.6 mm, strigillose; glands 4, yellow green to pink, circular to slightly oblong, 0.1–0.2 × 0.1–0.2 mm; appendages absent or white to pink, forming thin rim around edge of gland or oblong, 0.1–0.2 × 0.1–0.3 mm, distal margin entire or shallowly lobed. |
Staminate flowers | 25–30. |
2–8. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 0.7–2.2 mm, 2-fid. |
ovary strigillose, often canescent when young; styles 0.1–0.3 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, 1–1.2 × 1–1.3 mm, strigillose; columella 0.7–1.1 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 to pinkish, narrowly ovoid, 4-angled in cross section, 0.7–0.9(–1.1) × 0.5 mm, usually rugulose, with 3–6 faint, low, transverse ridges, rarely almost 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. |
in dense, terminal, capitate glomerules, with reduced, bractlike leaves subtending cyathia; peduncles 0–0.8 mm. |
Euphorbia lathyris |
Euphorbia ophthalmica |
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Phenology | Flowering and fruiting winter–fall. | Flowering and fruiting year-round. |
Habitat | Roadsides, cultivated fields, stream banks, waste places. | Hammock forests, disturbed areas in lawns, roadsides. |
Elevation | 0–1800 m. (0–5900 ft.) | 0–200 m. (0–700 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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AR; CA; FL; GA; LA; MO; PA; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies [Introduced in Europe] |
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 ophthalmica is a weedy species distributed throughout the Neotropics. It is also adventive in the Old World. Whether it is indeed native to the southeastern United States is questionable; it is introduced in Arkansas, California, Missouri, and Pennsylvania and likely occurs also in other states. Although sometimes treated as E. hirta var. procumbens, E. ophthalmica appears sufficiently distinct to justify recognition at the rank of species, differing primarily by its mostly prostrate growth form, smaller leaves, and strictly terminal clusters of cyathia. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 304. | FNA vol. 12, p. 280. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Galarhoeus lathyris, Tithymalus lathyris | Chamaesyce ophthalmica, E. hirta var. procumbens, E. pilulifera var. procumbens |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 457. (1753) — (as lathyrus) | Persoon: Syn. Pl. 2: 13. (1806) |
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