Euphorbia myrsinites |
Euphorbia oblongata |
|
---|---|---|
broad leaf glaucous spurge, donkey tail, myrtle or creeping or blue spurge, myrtle spurge |
Balkan spurge, egg-leaf spurge, oblong spurge |
|
Habit | Herbs, usually perennial, occasionally biennial, with taproot. | Herbs, perennial, with woody taproot. |
Stems | erect or semiprostrate, unbranched or branched, 15–40 cm, succulent, glabrous. |
erect, unbranched or densely branching, 80 cm, often densely villous (especially young stems and pleiochasial branches). |
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 oblong to narrowly obovate or lanceolate, 15–70 × 6–25 mm, base rounded or truncate, margins finely serrulate, apex obtuse, mucronulate, surfaces glabrous; venation inconspicuously pinnate, 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. |
cupulate to slightly turbinate, 1.5–2.5 × 1.3–1.5 mm, glabrous; glands 2–3, elliptic, 0.6–0.8 × 0.8–1.2 mm; horns absent. |
Staminate flowers | 6–12. |
15–40. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 2.5–2.8 mm, usually unbranched. |
ovary glabrous; styles 1.5–2 mm, 2-fid. |
Capsules | subglobose, 5–7 × 5–6 mm, unlobed; cocci rounded to subangular, smooth, glabrous; columella 4.5–5 mm. |
globose, 3–4.5 × 3–4.5 mm, slightly 3-lobed; cocci rounded, verrucose-tuberculate, glabrous; columella 2.5–3.3 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. |
brown, ovoid, 2.4–2.6 × 1.3–2 mm, smooth, caruncle reniform, 0.2–0.3 × 0.8–0.9 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 3–5, each 2–3 times 2–4-branched; pleiochasial bracts ovate, similar in size to distal leaves; dichasial bracts distinct, ovate to suborbiculate, base truncate or rounded, margins entire or finely denticulate, apex obtuse, sometimes mucronulate; axillary cymose branches 0–4. |
Cyathia | peduncle 0.5–1 mm. |
peduncle 1–5 mm. |
Euphorbia myrsinites |
Euphorbia oblongata |
|
Phenology | Flowering and fruiting spring–summer. | Flowering and fruiting spring–fall. |
Habitat | Scrub oak communities, open ground near forests, shrub-steppes. | Waste areas, disturbed sites, roadsides, fields, pastures. |
Elevation | 0–2400 m. (0–7900 ft.) | 30–900 m. (100–3000 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA; CO; ID; MT; NM; OR; UT; WA; WY; BC; s Europe; w Asia [Introduced in North America]
|
CA; OR; WA; s Europe [Introduced in North America]
|
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.) |
Euphorbia oblongata is listed as a noxious weed by the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 305. | FNA vol. 12, p. 305. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Tithymalus myrsinites | Tithymalus oblongatus |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 461. (1753) | Grisebach: Spic. Fl. Rumel. 1: 136. (1843) |
Web links |
|
|