Euphorbia lathyris |
Euphorbia simulans |
|
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caper spurge, euphorbe épurge, gopher plant, gopher spurge, mole plant |
mimicking sandmat, similar spurge |
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Habit | Herbs, annual or biennial, with taproot. | Herbs, annual or short-lived perennial, with usually slender, occasionally slightly thickened, rootstock. |
Stems | erect, unbranched or branched, 200 cm, glabrous, glaucous. |
prostrate to reclining, 5–40 cm, glabrous. |
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, 0.5–0.7 mm, glabrous; petiole 0.7–1.3 mm, glabrous; blade orbiculate, oval, to shortly oblong, 1–3.2 × 1.5–5 mm, base subsymmetric, rounded, margins entire, apex usually rounded, occasionally emarginate, surfaces glabrous; venation obscure, 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. |
turbinate to campanulate, 0.8–1.2 × 0.7–1 mm, glabrous; glands 4, red to purple, slightly concave, elliptic, 0.2–0.3 × 0.4–0.5 mm; appendages absent. |
Staminate flowers | 25–30. |
15–36. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 0.7–2.2 mm, 2-fid. |
ovary glabrous; styles 0.2–0.3 mm, 2-fid 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. |
broadly ovoid, 1.3–1.8 × 1.5–2 mm, glabrous; columella 1.1–1.4 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, reddish brown beneath coat, oblong, 4-angled in cross section, 1.5–2 × 1.3–1.8 mm, with 5–7 faint transverse ridges or wrinkles. |
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. |
|
Cyathia | peduncle 0–0.5 mm. |
solitary at distal nodes; peduncle 0.3–0.7 mm. |
2n | = 28. |
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Euphorbia lathyris |
Euphorbia simulans |
|
Phenology | Flowering and fruiting winter–fall. | Flowering and fruiting year-round. |
Habitat | Roadsides, cultivated fields, stream banks, waste places. | Desert scrub, mountains, hills, canyons, arroyos, flats, roadsides, clay, sandy, gravelly, and rocky soils. |
Elevation | 0–1800 m. (0–5900 ft.) | 600–1300 m. (2000–4300 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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TX; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila) |
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 simulans, which in the flora area is known only from Brewster, Hudspeth, and Presidio counties, is difficult to distinguish in the field from the sympatric E. theriaca var. theriaca, because they are mainly distinguished by seed morphology. The latter has smaller seeds with (two or) three (or four) prominent transverse ridges, whereas E. simulans has larger seeds that are slightly wrinkled. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 304. | FNA vol. 12, p. 289. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Galarhoeus lathyris, Tithymalus lathyris | E. polycarpa var. simulans, Chamaesyce simulans |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 457. (1753) — (as lathyrus) | (L. C. Wheeler) Warnock & M. C. Johnston: SouthW. Naturalist 5: 170. (1960) |
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