Euphorbia ocellata |
Euphorbia misera |
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Contura Creek sandmat, Contura Creek spurge, valley spurge |
cliff spurge |
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Habit | Herbs, annual, with taproot. | Shrubs, soft wooded, with woody rootstock. | ||||
Stems | prostrate, 10–35 cm, glabrous or pilose. |
erect to ascending, often gnarled and scraggly, branched, with conspicuous knobby short shoots, 70–150 cm, puberulent-tomentose, bark grayish red to light gray. |
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Leaves | opposite; stipules distinct, subulate, 0.5–1.6 mm, glabrous or pilose; petiole 0.3–2 mm, glabrous or pilose; blade ovate to deltate or falcate, 2.3–13 × 1.5–6 mm, base asymmetric, usually cordate, rarely rounded, margins occasionally reddish, entire, often revolute, apex acute to obtuse, occasionally mucronate, surfaces glabrous or pilose; midvein conspicuous, lateral veins frequently visible abaxially. |
alternate, well spaced on long shoots or fasciculate on short shoots; stipules 0.6–1.1 mm; petiole 4–12(–19) mm, slender, puberulent to shortly pilose; blade oblong, ovate, orbiculate, elliptic, or obovate, 6–24 × 5–21 mm, base rounded to cuneate, margins entire, apex acute to obtuse, surfaces puberulent-tomentose; venation conspicuous. |
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Involucre | campanulate, 1–2.5 × 1.3–2.4 mm, glabrous or pilose; glands 4, yellow becoming deep red, elliptic or oblong to orbiculate, 0.4–0.6 × 0.5–0.7 mm; appendages absent or whitish, orbiculate, 0.1–0.2 × 0.3–0.5 mm, distal margin entire. |
campanulate, 1.4–3.8 × 2.1–4.4 mm, puberulent-tomentose; glands 5, yellow to reddish, oblong to reniform, 0.7–1.3 × 1.1–2.6 mm; appendages green-yellow to yellowish or whitish, oblong to transversely oblong, 0.6–1.9 × 1.3–3.8 mm, crenulate to erose. |
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Staminate flowers | 30–70. |
40–50. |
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Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous or pilose; styles 0.4–0.5 mm, 2-fid at apex. |
ovary glabrous or puberulent; styles 1.6–2.7 mm, 2-fid at apex. |
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Capsules | subglobose to broadly ovoid, 1.4–2.7 × 1.9–3.1 mm, glabrous or pilose; columella 1.4–2 mm. |
oblate, 4.6–5.1 × 6.1–6.7 mm, usually glabrous or glabrescent, occasionally puberulent; columella 2.8–3.6 mm. |
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Seeds | whitish gray to black, ovoid to oblong, terete to bluntly subangled in cross section, 1.1–1.7 × 0.8–1.3 mm, rugose or smooth. |
grayish, subglobose to ovoid, rounded in cross section, 2.7–3.3 × 2.5–2.8 mm, foveolate; caruncle absent. |
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Cyathia | solitary at distal nodes; peduncle 0.9–2.2 mm. |
usually solitary on short shoots, peduncle 1.8–10.5 mm, puberulent-tomentose. |
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Euphorbia ocellata |
Euphorbia misera |
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Phenology | Flowering and fruiting year-round (but most prolific after winter rains). | |||||
Habitat | Rocky soils, sometimes in crevices of vertical cliff faces, coastal scrub, maritime desert scrub, arid desert scrub. | |||||
Elevation | 0–400 m. (0–1300 ft.) | |||||
Distribution |
AZ; CA; ID; NV; UT
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CA; Mexico (Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora)
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Discussion | Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Euphorbia misera is relatively infrequent within the flora area, known primarily from coastal southern California and the Channel Islands (although a relictual inland population occurs in the Little San Bernardino Mountains). The species has been considered worthy of conservation, but appears to be under little threat, especially in Mexico where it is frequent and often locally abundant. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 279. | FNA vol. 12, p. 249. | ||||
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Alectoroctonum | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | Chamaesyce ocellata | |||||
Name authority | Durand & Hilgard: Pl. Heermann., 46. (1854) | Bentham: Bot. Voy. Sulphur, 51. (1844) | ||||
Web links |