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Balkan spurge, egg-leaf spurge, oblong spurge

green poinsettia, tooth poinsettia, tooth spurge

Habit Herbs, perennial, with woody taproot. Herbs, annual, with taproot.
Stems

erect, unbranched or densely branching, 80 cm, often densely villous (especially young stems and pleiochasial branches).

erect or ascending, 15–60 cm, both pilose and inconspicuously strigillose;

branches usually ± straight, occasionally proximal branches arcuate.

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.

usually opposite, occasionally alternate at distal nodes;

petiole 5–20 mm, pilose;

blade 30–70 × 4–35 mm, narrowly lanceolate to suborbiculate, usually broadest below middle, base usually acute to subobtuse, rarely subtruncate, margins coarsely crenate-dentate or doubly crenate, strigillose, flat to slightly revolute, apex broadly acute, abaxial surface long pilose with weak, filiform hairs, adaxial surface sparsely pilose to glabrate;

venation pinnate, midvein prominent.

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.

campanulate, 3.8 × 1.8 mm, glabrous;

involucral lobes divided into several linear, smooth lobes;

glands (1–)2, green, sessile and broadly attached, 0.7–0.9 × 0.9–1.2 mm, opening oblong, glabrous;

appendages absent.

Staminate flowers

15–40.

8–10.

Pistillate flowers

ovary glabrous;

styles 1.5–2 mm, 2-fid.

ovary glabrous, styles 1.2 mm, 2-fid 1/2 to nearly entire length.

Capsules

globose, 3–4.5 × 3–4.5 mm, slightly 3-lobed;

cocci rounded, verrucose-tuberculate, glabrous;

columella 2.5–3.3 mm.

depressed-globose, 2.5–2.8 × 3.5–4 mm, 3-lobed, glabrous;

columella 1.8–2.1 mm.

Seeds

brown, ovoid, 2.4–2.6 × 1.3–2 mm, smooth, caruncle reniform, 0.2–0.3 × 0.8–0.9 mm.

pale gray to black, ovoid, rounded in cross section, 2.1–2.7 × 1.7–2.1 mm, evenly minute-tuberculate;

caruncle 0.4–0.6 mm.

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.

arrangement: terminal pleiochasial branches usually 3, occasionally reduced to congested cyme, 1–2-branched;

pleiochasial bracts 2–4, often whorled, wholly green or paler green, white, or mauve at base, similar in shape and size to distal leaves or slightly narrower;

dichasial bracts similar in shape to distal leaves but smaller (often highly reduced).

Cyathia

peduncle 1–5 mm.

peduncle 0.7–1 mm.

2n

= 28.

Euphorbia oblongata

Euphorbia dentata

Phenology Flowering and fruiting spring–fall. Flowering and fruiting spring–fall.
Habitat Waste areas, disturbed sites, roadsides, fields, pastures. Bottomland forests, stream and river banks, bluffs, prairies, glades, fallow fields, roadsides, railroad cinders, open disturbed areas.
Elevation 30–900 m. (100–3000 ft.) 0–1000 m. (0–3300 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR; WA; s Europe [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MD; MI; MO; MS; NC; NE; OH; OK; PA; SC; TN; TX; VA; WV; ON; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
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 dentata is native from northern Mexico and the south central United States north and east through the Ohio River Valley. Scattered occurrences in the southeastern United States likely represent adventive populations. Reports of E. dentata as a noxious weed (from the United States and the Old World) should most likely be attributed to introductions of E. davidii.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 12, p. 305. FNA vol. 12, p. 321.
Parent taxa Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Poinsettia
Sibling taxa
E. aaron-rossii, E. abramsiana, E. acuta, E. agraria, E. albomarginata, E. alta, E. angusta, E. antisyphilitica, E. arizonica, E. astyla, E. austrotexana, E. bicolor, E. bifurcata, E. bilobata, E. blodgettii, E. bombensis, E. brachycera, E. capitellata, E. carunculata, E. chaetocalyx, E. chamaesula, E. cinerascens, E. commutata, E. conferta, E. cordifolia, E. corollata, E. crenulata, E. cumulicola, E. cuphosperma, E. curtisii, E. cyathophora, E. cyparissias, E. davidii, E. deltoidea, E. dendroides, E. dentata, E. discoidalis, E. eriantha, E. exigua, E. exserta, E. exstipulata, E. falcata, E. fendleri, E. florida, E. floridana, E. garberi, E. georgiana, E. geyeri, E. glyptosperma, E. golondrina, E. gracillima, E. graminea, E. helioscopia, E. helleri, E. heterophylla, E. hexagona, E. hirta, E. hooveri, E. humistrata, E. hypericifolia, E. hyssopifolia, E. indivisa, E. innocua, E. inundata, E. ipecacuanhae, E. jaegeri, E. jejuna, E. laredana, E. lasiocarpa, E. lata, E. lathyris, E. longicruris, E. lurida, E. macropus, E. maculata, E. marginata, E. meganaesos, E. melanadenia, E. mendezii, E. mercurialina, E. mesembrianthemifolia, E. micromera, E. misera, E. missurica, E. myrsinites, E. nephradenia, E. nutans, E. ocellata, E. ophthalmica, E. ouachitana, E. parishii, E. parryi, E. pediculifera, E. peplidion, E. peplus, E. perennans, E. pergamena, E. pinetorum, E. platyphyllos, E. platysperma, E. polycarpa, E. polygonifolia, E. polyphylla, E. porteriana, E. prostrata, E. pubentissima, E. purpurea, E. radians, E. rayturneri, E. revoluta, E. roemeriana, E. rosescens, E. schizoloba, E. serpens, E. serpillifolia, E. serrata, E. serrula, E. setiloba, E. simulans, E. spathulata, E. stictospora, E. strictior, E. telephioides, E. terracina, E. tetrapora, E. texana, E. theriaca, E. thymifolia, E. tithymaloides, E. trachysperma, E. trichotoma, E. vallis-mortae, E. velleriflora, E. vermiculata, E. villifera, E. virgata, E. wrightii, E. yaquiana
E. aaron-rossii, E. abramsiana, E. acuta, E. agraria, E. albomarginata, E. alta, E. angusta, E. antisyphilitica, E. arizonica, E. astyla, E. austrotexana, E. bicolor, E. bifurcata, E. bilobata, E. blodgettii, E. bombensis, E. brachycera, E. capitellata, E. carunculata, E. chaetocalyx, E. chamaesula, E. cinerascens, E. commutata, E. conferta, E. cordifolia, E. corollata, E. crenulata, E. cumulicola, E. cuphosperma, E. curtisii, E. cyathophora, E. cyparissias, E. davidii, E. deltoidea, E. dendroides, E. discoidalis, E. eriantha, E. exigua, E. exserta, E. exstipulata, E. falcata, E. fendleri, E. florida, E. floridana, E. garberi, E. georgiana, E. geyeri, E. glyptosperma, E. golondrina, E. gracillima, E. graminea, E. helioscopia, E. helleri, E. heterophylla, E. hexagona, E. hirta, E. hooveri, E. humistrata, E. hypericifolia, E. hyssopifolia, E. indivisa, E. innocua, E. inundata, E. ipecacuanhae, E. jaegeri, E. jejuna, E. laredana, E. lasiocarpa, E. lata, E. lathyris, E. longicruris, E. lurida, E. macropus, E. maculata, E. marginata, E. meganaesos, E. melanadenia, E. mendezii, E. mercurialina, E. mesembrianthemifolia, E. micromera, E. misera, E. missurica, E. myrsinites, E. nephradenia, E. nutans, E. oblongata, E. ocellata, E. ophthalmica, E. ouachitana, E. parishii, E. parryi, E. pediculifera, E. peplidion, E. peplus, E. perennans, E. pergamena, E. pinetorum, E. platyphyllos, E. platysperma, E. polycarpa, E. polygonifolia, E. polyphylla, E. porteriana, E. prostrata, E. pubentissima, E. purpurea, E. radians, E. rayturneri, E. revoluta, E. roemeriana, E. rosescens, E. schizoloba, E. serpens, E. serpillifolia, E. serrata, E. serrula, E. setiloba, E. simulans, E. spathulata, E. stictospora, E. strictior, E. telephioides, E. terracina, E. tetrapora, E. texana, E. theriaca, E. thymifolia, E. tithymaloides, E. trachysperma, E. trichotoma, E. vallis-mortae, E. velleriflora, E. vermiculata, E. villifera, E. virgata, E. wrightii, E. yaquiana
Synonyms Tithymalus oblongatus Poinsettia dentata
Name authority Grisebach: Spic. Fl. Rumel. 1: 136. (1843) Michaux: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 211. (1803)
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