Euphorbia ocellata |
Euphorbia prostrata |
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Contura Creek sandmat, Contura Creek spurge, valley spurge |
blue weed, ground spurge, prostrate sandmat, prostrate spurge or sandmat |
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Habit | Herbs, annual, with taproot. | Herbs, annual, with taproot. | ||||
Stems | prostrate, 10–35 cm, glabrous or pilose. |
prostrate to decumbent, usually not mat-forming, 10–30 cm, crisped-villous to glabrate (proximally). |
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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. |
opposite; stipules connate (lower side) or distinct (upper side), triangular-subulate, often lacerate distally, 0.5–1 mm, short crisped-villous to glabrate; petiole 0.5–1.5 mm, usually short crisped-villous, sometimes wooly at distal nodes; blade broadly elliptic to elliptic-oblong, ovate-spatulate, or ovate, 3–11(–15) × 3–6(–8) mm, base slightly asymmetric, rounded to slightly cordate and oblique, margins serrulate at least in distal 1/2, sometimes obscurely so, apex obtuse, abaxial surface finely crisped-villous, adaxial surface usually glabrous or glabrate, sometimes sparsely crisped-villous; 3-veined from base. |
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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. |
obconic, 0.6–0.9 × 0.5 mm, crisped-villous or glabrous; glands 4, reddish, oval to oblong, 0.1 × 0.1–0.2 mm; appendages white to pink, rudimentary, 0–0.2 mm, distal margin entire or irregularly scalloped. |
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Staminate flowers | 30–70. |
3–6. |
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Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous or pilose; styles 0.4–0.5 mm, 2-fid at apex. |
ovary densely crisped-villous; styles 0.1 mm, 2-fid nearly entire length. |
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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. |
broadly ovoid, 1.2–2 × 1.4–1.5 mm, crisped-villous along keels and toward base, often glabrous between keels; columella 1–1.2 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. |
white but with barely concealed brown surface beneath, ovoid, sharply 4-angled in cross section, abaxial faces plane to convex, adaxial faces concave, 0.8–1.1 × 0.5–0.7 mm, with several narrow, sharp, slightly irregular, transverse ridges. |
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Cyathia | solitary at distal nodes; peduncle 0.9–2.2 mm. |
solitary or in small, cymose clusters at distal nodes or on congested, axillary branches; peduncle 1–2 mm. |
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2n | = 18. |
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Euphorbia ocellata |
Euphorbia prostrata |
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Phenology | Flowering and fruiting early spring–fall. | |||||
Habitat | Disturbed areas, fields, gardens, sidewalks, sandy places, ballast piles. | |||||
Elevation | 0–1400 m. (0–4600 ft.) | |||||
Distribution |
AZ; CA; ID; NV; UT
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AL; AR; AZ; CA; CO; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; MI; MO; MS; NC; NE; NM; OH; OK; PA; SC; SD; TN; TX; UT; VA; WV; WY; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies [Introduced in Eurasia, Africa, Pacific Islands, Australia]
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Discussion | Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Euphorbia prostrata is native to tropical America and possibly into the southern part of the flora area. It is likely adventive throughout most of the northern part of its range. It is widely naturalized throughout much of the rest of the tropics. (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. 285. | ||||
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | Chamaesyce ocellata | Chamaesyce prostrata | ||||
Name authority | Durand & Hilgard: Pl. Heermann., 46. (1854) | Aiton: Hort. Kew. 2: 139. (1789) | ||||
Web links |
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