Euphorbia parishii |
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Parish's sandmat |
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Habit | Herbs or subshrubs, perennial, with thickened and often woody rootstock. |
Stems | prostrate, sometimes forming dense mounds, 10–50 cm, glabrous. |
Leaves | opposite; stipules distinct, subulate-filiform, 0.3–0.9 mm, pilose; petiole 0.3–1.2 mm, glabrous; blade usually ovate, rarely oblong, 2–7 × 1–5 mm, base usually asymmetric, rounded to hemicordate, margins entire, apex usually obtuse, rarely acute, surfaces glabrous; only midvein conspicuous. |
Involucre | obconic to campanulate, 1–1.4 × 0.9–1.3 mm, glabrous except for pilose lobes; glands 4, pink to maroon, circular, 0.3–0.4 × 0.3–0.4 mm; appendages absent. |
Staminate flowers | 40–50. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 0.3–0.6 mm, 2-fid 1/2 length. |
Capsules | ovoid to oblate-ovoid, 1.6–1.7 × 1.6–1.9 mm, glabrous; columella 1.2–1.5 mm. |
Seeds | whitish to light brown, ovoid, 4-angled in cross section, 1.2–1.4 × 0.6–0.8 mm, rugose or with indistinct, irregular, low transverse ridges. |
Cyathia | solitary at distal nodes; peduncle 0.1–0.6(–2.2) mm. |
Euphorbia parishii |
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Phenology | Flowering and fruiting fall–summer. |
Habitat | Desert scrub, often with creosote bush, disturbed roadsides, rocky soils. |
Elevation | -90–600 m. (-300–2000 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA; NV |
Discussion | Euphorbia parishii is common in the Death Valley region of southern California, where it is often encountered well below sea level. The species is frequently confused with E. micromera and E. polycarpa but differs from the former in being a more robust plant with larger cyathia and from the latter in lacking involucral gland appendages. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 280. |
Parent taxa | |
Sibling taxa | |
Synonyms | Chamaesyce parishii, E. polycarpa var. parishii |
Name authority | Greene: Bull. Calif. Acad. Sci. 2: 56. (1886) |
Web links |