Euphorbia ocellata |
Euphorbia terracina |
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Contura Creek sandmat, Contura Creek spurge, valley spurge |
carnation spurge, Geraldton carnation weed, terracina spurge |
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Habit | Herbs, annual, with taproot. | Herbs, perennial or biennial, with taproot. | ||||
Stems | prostrate, 10–35 cm, glabrous or pilose. |
erect, unbranched or branched, 10–100 cm, glabrous. |
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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. |
petiole absent; blade linear, linear-lanceolate, oblong-elliptic, or obovate, 4–50 × 2–10 mm, base obtuse or truncate, margins finely serrulate, apex acute, obtuse, or truncate, sometimes mucronulate, surfaces glabrous; venation inconspicuous, only midvein prominent. |
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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. |
cupulate to slightly turbinate, 1.1–2 × 1.3–1.5 mm, glabrous or puberulent; glands 4, elliptic to trapezoidal, 0.6–0.8 × 1–2 mm; horns slightly convergent to divergent, 1–2 mm. |
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Staminate flowers | 30–70. |
15–20. |
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Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous or pilose; styles 0.4–0.5 mm, 2-fid at apex. |
ovary glabrous; styles 1–1.8 mm, 2-fid. |
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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. |
depressed-globose, 2.5–3 × 3–4.5 mm, deeply 3-lobed; cocci rounded to subangular, smooth, glabrous; columella 1.9–2.3 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. |
pale gray, subovoid, 1.6–2.4 × 1.3–1.8 mm, smooth; caruncle boat-shaped, 0.4–0.6 × 0.4–0.6 mm. |
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Cyathia | solitary at distal nodes; peduncle 0.9–2.2 mm. |
peduncle 1–3 mm. |
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Cyathial | arrangement: terminal pleiochasial branches 2–5, each 1–5 times 2-branched; pleiochasial bracts lanceolate, elliptic or ovate, similar in size to distal leaves; dichasial bracts distinct, ovate to subreniform, base cuneate to cordate, margins finely serrulate, apex acute, obtuse, or rounded, sometimes mucronulate or cuspidate; axillary cymose branches 0–7. |
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Euphorbia ocellata |
Euphorbia terracina |
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Phenology | Flowering and fruiting spring–summer. | |||||
Habitat | Edges of cultivated fields and woodlands, roadsides, waste areas, pastures, coastal bluffs, dunes, riparian areas. | |||||
Elevation | 0–300 m. (0–1000 ft.) | |||||
Distribution |
AZ; CA; ID; NV; UT
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CA; Europe [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Mexico, s Africa, Australia]
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Discussion | Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Euphorbia terracina is native to the Mediterranean region of Europe. This species is invasive and spreading rapidly, displacing native coastal scrub in southern California, and has been listed as a noxious weed by that state. (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. 310. | ||||
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | Chamaesyce ocellata | Tithymalus terracinus | ||||
Name authority | Durand & Hilgard: Pl. Heermann., 46. (1854) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. ed. 2, 1: 654. (1762) | ||||
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