Euphorbia myrsinites |
Euphorbia trichotoma |
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broad leaf glaucous spurge, donkey tail, myrtle or creeping or blue spurge, myrtle spurge |
sand-dune spurge |
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Habit | Herbs, usually perennial, occasionally biennial, with taproot. | Herbs, perennial, with thick rootstock. |
Stems | erect or semiprostrate, unbranched or branched, 15–40 cm, succulent, glabrous. |
erect, branched, 15–40 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 obovate to oblanceolate, 5–20 × 2–7 mm, base broadly attenuate, margins entire, apex acute to obtuse, surfaces glabrous; venation pinnate, very obscure, 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. |
hemispheric, 1–1.5 × 1.4–2 mm, glabrous; glands 5, elliptic to slightly crescent-shaped, 0.4–0.6 × 0.9–1.1 mm; horns divergent, 0.1–0.2 mm. |
Staminate flowers | 6–12. |
8–10. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 2.5–2.8 mm, usually unbranched. |
ovary glabrous; styles 0.2–0.4 mm, 2-fid. |
Capsules | subglobose, 5–7 × 5–6 mm, unlobed; cocci rounded to subangular, smooth, glabrous; columella 4.5–5 mm. |
depressed-ovoid, 1.1–1.5 × 2–3 mm, strongly 3-lobed; cocci rounded, minutely papillate, sometimes appearing smooth, glabrous; columella 1.6–1.9 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. |
white, ovoid-globose, 1.8–2 × 1.6–1.8 mm, smooth; caruncle ± rounded and flattened, 0.3 × 0.3 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, each usually 1–2 times 3-branched, sometimes unbranched; pleiochasial bracts similar in shape and size to distal leaves, alternate; dichasial bracts distinct, obovate to oblanceolate, base broadly attenuate, margins entire, apex acute to obtuse; axillary cymose branches 0. |
Cyathia | peduncle 0.5–1 mm. |
peduncle 0.7–1 mm. |
Euphorbia myrsinites |
Euphorbia trichotoma |
|
Phenology | Flowering and fruiting spring–summer. | Flowering and fruiting year-round (primarily spring–summer). |
Habitat | Scrub oak communities, open ground near forests, shrub-steppes. | Coastal beaches, sand dunes, thickets. |
Elevation | 0–2400 m. (0–7900 ft.) | 0–10 m. (0–0 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA; CO; ID; MT; NM; OR; UT; WA; WY; BC; s Europe; w Asia [Introduced in North America]
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FL; Mexico; Central America; West Indies |
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 trichotoma is found in coastal peninsular Florida from Hillsborough County south to Key West. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 305. | FNA vol. 12, p. 311. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Tithymalus myrsinites | Galarhoeus trichotomus, Tithymalus trichotomus |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 461. (1753) | Kunth: in A. von Humboldt et al., Nov. Gen. Sp. 2(fol.): 48; 2(qto.): 60. (1817) |
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