Euphorbia lathyris |
Euphorbia wrightii |
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caper spurge, euphorbe épurge, gopher plant, gopher spurge, mole plant |
Wright's spurge |
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Habit | Herbs, annual or biennial, with taproot. | Herbs, perennial with cylindric rootstock or elongated tubers. |
Stems | erect, unbranched or branched, 200 cm, glabrous, glaucous. |
erect, branched, densely clumped, previous year’s dead stems often persistent, 20–50 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. |
alternate, persisting, spreading or ascending; stipules 0.1–0.3 mm; petiole absent; blade linear to linear-filiform, (17–)20–40 × 1–2.5 mm, base cuneate, slightly sheathing stem, margins entire, apex broadly acute to rounded, abaxial surface glabrous or sparsely villous, adaxial surface glabrous; venation obscure, only midvein conspicuous on wider leaves. |
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, 1.5–2 × 1.8–2.5 mm, pilose; glands 5, green, broadly elliptic, 0.7–0.8 × 1 mm; appendages white to pink, orbiculate, 0.5–1 × 1.3–1.8 mm, coarsely erose. |
Staminate flowers | 25–30. |
20–25. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 0.7–2.2 mm, 2-fid. |
ovary strigose to tomentose; styles 1 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. |
depressed-globose, 1 locule usually aborting, 2.5(–3) × 2.7–3.3(–5) mm, sparsely tomentose; columella 2.6–3 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. |
gray-green to gray-brown, globose-ovoid, 2.2–2.9 × 1.8–2 mm, shallowly and obscurely pitted; 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. |
usually in terminal dichasia, rarely pleiochasia; peduncle (3–)5–15 mm, all peduncles and cyathia persistent on plant, glabrous. |
Euphorbia lathyris |
Euphorbia wrightii |
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Phenology | Flowering and fruiting winter–fall. | Flowering and fruiting spring–fall. |
Habitat | Roadsides, cultivated fields, stream banks, waste places. | Open grasslands and uplands, often on limestone outcrops. |
Elevation | 0–1800 m. (0–5900 ft.) | 500–1000 m. (1600–3300 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 (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.) |
Within the flora area, Euphorbia wrightii is endemic to the western Edwards Plateau and adjacent rolling plains in western Texas. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 304. | FNA vol. 12, p. 251. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Alectoroctonum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Galarhoeus lathyris, Tithymalus lathyris | |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 457. (1753) — (as lathyrus) | Torrey & A. Gray: in War Department [U.S.], Pacif. Railr. Rep. 2(4): 174. (1857) |
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