Euphorbia myrsinites |
Euphorbia cyparissias |
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broad leaf glaucous spurge, donkey tail, myrtle or creeping or blue spurge, myrtle spurge |
cypress spurge, euphorbe cypress, graveyard spurge |
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Habit | Herbs, usually perennial, occasionally biennial, with taproot. | Herbs, perennial, with slender, spreading rootstock. |
Stems | erect or semiprostrate, unbranched or branched, 15–40 cm, succulent, glabrous. |
erect or ascending, unbranched or branched, often with short axillary vegetative shoots with very narrow leaves, 10–50 cm, glabrous. |
Leaves | petiole 0–2 mm; blade obovate, obovate-oblong, lanceolate, orbiculate, or suborbiculate, 2–30 × 3–17 mm, fleshy, base truncate or attenuate, margins entire or finely denticulate, apex acute to obtuse, cuspidate or strongly mucronate, surfaces glabrous; venation and midvein inconspicuous. |
petiole absent; blade linear to linear-ovate or linear-oblanceolate, 5–30 × 0.5–3 mm, base rounded to cuneate, margins entire, apex rounded to acute, surfaces glabrous; venation inconspicuous, only midvein prominent. |
Involucre | campanulate, 2.4–2.6 × 2.3–2.5 mm, glabrous; glands 4, trapezoidal, 1–1.5 × 1.5–2.5 mm; horns divergent, thick, tips rounded, dilated, 0.5–0.9 mm. |
campanulate to slightly urceolate, 1.5–2 × 0.9–1.1 mm, glabrous; glands 4, crescent-shaped; 0.4–0.6 × 0.7–1.3 mm; horns convergent, 0.1–0.5 mm. |
Staminate flowers | 6–12. |
15–25. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 2.5–2.8 mm, usually unbranched. |
ovary glabrous; styles 1–1.2 mm, 2-fid. |
Capsules | subglobose, 5–7 × 5–6 mm, unlobed; cocci rounded to subangular, smooth, glabrous; columella 4.5–5 mm. |
subglobose, 2.5–3 × 3–4 mm, slightly lobed; cocci rounded, granulate, glabrous; columella 1.9–2.1 mm. |
Seeds | brownish to grayish, oblong, 2.8–4.5 × 2–3.2 mm, vermiculate-rugose; caruncle substipitate, trapezoidal or mushroom-shaped, 1.3–1.5 × 0.6–0.8 mm. |
blackish, ovoid-oblong, 1.8–2.5 × 1.4–1.7 mm, smooth; caruncle nipple-shaped or subreniform, 0.2–0.4 × 0.7–1.1 mm. |
Cyathial | arrangement: terminal pleiochasial branches 2–12, each 1–2 times 2-branched; pleiochasial bracts similar in shape and size to distal leaves; dichasial bracts distinct, suborbiculate or reniform, base truncate, margins entire or minutely denticulate, apex obtuse, mucronulate; axillary cymose branches 0–4. |
arrangement: terminal pleiochasial branches 6–25, each 1–2-times 2-branched; pleiochasial bracts similar in shape to distal leaves except shorter and wider; dichasial bracts distinct, widely ovate, rhombic or reniform, base obtuse to truncate, margins entire, apex acute or obtuse, sometimes mucronulate; axillary cymose branches 0–15. |
Cyathia | peduncle 0.5–1 mm. |
peduncle 0–0.5 mm. |
Euphorbia myrsinites |
Euphorbia cyparissias |
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Phenology | Flowering and fruiting spring–summer. | Flowering and fruiting spring–fall. |
Habitat | Scrub oak communities, open ground near forests, shrub-steppes. | Fields, roadsides, waste places. |
Elevation | 0–2400 m. (0–7900 ft.) | 0–1500 m. (0–4900 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA; CO; ID; MT; NM; OR; UT; WA; WY; BC; s Europe; w Asia [Introduced in North America]
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AR; CA; CO; CT; DC; DE; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KY; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MT; NC; NE; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OR; PA; RI; SC; TN; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; BC; MB; NB; NF; NS; ON; PE; QC; SK; Europe [Introduced in North America]
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Discussion | Euphorbia myrsinites is cultivated in much of the flora area, where it can tolerate cold winters. In some areas, it can locally escape from cultivation. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 305. | FNA vol. 12, p. 301. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Tithymalus myrsinites | Galarhoeus cyparissias, Tithymalus cyparissias |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 461. (1753) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 461. (1753) |
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