Euphorbia oblongata |
Euphorbia blodgettii |
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Balkan spurge, egg-leaf spurge, oblong spurge |
limestone sandmat |
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Habit | Herbs, perennial, with woody taproot. | Herbs, usually annual, occasionally perennial, with slender to slightly thickened taproot, 3.5 mm diam.. |
Stems | erect, unbranched or densely branching, 80 cm, often densely villous (especially young stems and pleiochasial branches). |
prostrate to decumbent, loosely mat-forming, often rooting at nodes, 10–45 cm, glabrous. |
Leaves | 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. |
opposite; stipules distinct, subulate filiform segments (lower side), or connate forming conspicuous, broad deltate scale (upper side), toothed, 0.5–1 mm, glabrous; petiole 0.7–1 mm, glabrous; blade ovate to oblong-elliptic, 4–10 × 2–5 mm, base asymmetric, subcordate to rounded, margins usually entire, occasionally toothed, apex usually obtuse to rounded, occasionally acute to apiculate, surfaces without red blotch, glabrous; 3-veined from base, only midvein conspicuous. |
Involucre | 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. |
turbinate to campanulate, 0.5–0.6 × 0.4–0.6 mm, glabrous; glands 4, red, slightly concave, elliptic-oblong, 0.1 × 0.1–0.3 mm; appendages white to pink, unequal, pair near sinus lunate to oblong, 0.1–0.2 × 0.1–0.3 mm, distal margin entire, crenulate, or irregularly sinuate, other pair sometimes rudimentary, 0–0.1 × 0.1–0.3 mm, distal margin crenulate or entire. |
Staminate flowers | 15–40. |
8–12. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 1.5–2 mm, 2-fid. |
ovary glabrous; styles 0.3–0.4 mm, 2-fid 1/2 length. |
Capsules | globose, 3–4.5 × 3–4.5 mm, slightly 3-lobed; cocci rounded, verrucose-tuberculate, glabrous; columella 2.5–3.3 mm. |
broadly ovoid, 1.2–1.7 × 1.4–1.9 mm, glabrous; columella 1.2–1.6 mm. |
Seeds | brown, ovoid, 2.4–2.6 × 1.3–2 mm, smooth, caruncle reniform, 0.2–0.3 × 0.8–0.9 mm. |
gray to reddish brown, oblong-ovoid, 4-angled in cross section, 0.9–1.1 × 0.5–0.6 mm, flat or obscurely wrinkled. |
Cyathial | 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. |
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Cyathia | peduncle 1–5 mm. |
solitary or in small, cymose clusters at distal nodes of stem or on congested, axillary branches; peduncle 0.4–0.6 mm. |
Euphorbia oblongata |
Euphorbia blodgettii |
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Phenology | Flowering and fruiting spring–fall. | Flowering and fruiting year-round. |
Habitat | Waste areas, disturbed sites, roadsides, fields, pastures. | Coastal sand dunes and disturbed upland sandy areas. |
Elevation | 30–900 m. (100–3000 ft.) | 0–20 m. (0–100 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA; OR; WA; s Europe [Introduced in North America]
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FL |
Discussion | 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.) |
Euphorbia blodgettii is found only in peninsular Florida. It is closely related to E. garberi, E. porteriana, and E. serpens (Y. Yang and P. E. Berry 2011). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 305. | FNA vol. 12, p. 261. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Tithymalus oblongatus | Chamaesyce blodgettii, C. nashii |
Name authority | Grisebach: Spic. Fl. Rumel. 1: 136. (1843) | Engelmann ex Hitchcock: Rep. (Annual) Missouri Bot. Gard. 4: 126, plate 13. (1893) |
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