Euphorbia pediculifera |
Euphorbia vermiculata |
|
---|---|---|
Carrizo Mountain sandmat |
hairy sandmat, wormseed sandmat, wormseed spurge |
|
Habit | Herbs, annual or short-lived perennial, with slender, fibrous taproot. | |
Stems | prostrate to ascending or erect, not mat forming, 10–35 cm, usually sparsely to moderately strigillose, pilose, or villous, rarely glabrate hairs sometimes in longitudinal lines. |
|
Leaves | opposite; stipules distinct or connate, triangular to narrowly triangular or laciniate into subulate to filiform divisions, 0.6–1.3 mm, glabrous or sparsely pilose; petiole 0.2–0.9 mm, glabrous, villous, or strigillose; blade ovate, oblong, or elliptic, often falcate, 5–18 × 3–9 mm, base asymmetric, one side rounded and other cordate, margins usually serrulate especially in distal 1/2, rarely nearly entire, apex acute or obtuse, surfaces not papillate, sparsely pilose, villous, or sericeous (especially near base), often glabrate (especially older leaves); 3–5-veined from base. |
|
Involucre | obconic, 0.7–1.1 × 0.5–0.8 mm, glabrous; glands (2–3)–4, red to reddish green, circular to oblong, 0.1 × 0.1–0.2 mm; appendages absent or white, turning pink with age, flabellate, oblong, circular, or forming narrow lunate border around margin of gland, 0.1–0.3 × 0.2–0.4 mm, distal margin entire or slightly lobed. |
|
Staminate flowers | 5–15. |
|
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 0.3–0.5 mm, 2-fid 1/2 length. |
|
Capsules | oblate to subglobose, cocci not elongated nor terminating in empty portion, 1.4–1.8 × 1.7–2.1 mm, glabrous; columella 1.1–1.5 mm. |
|
Seeds | brown, gray, or almost black, ovoid to oblong, 3–4-angled in cross section, 1.1–1.4 × 0.7–0.8 mm, rugulose and sometimes also with low transverse ridges that do not interrupt abaxial keel. |
|
Euphorbia | pediculifera can be variable in terms of leaf shape and the extent of pubescence, but the species is readily identified by the short, appressed hairs on the leaves and the distinctive seed that is encircled by a series of round, transverse ridges. |
|
Cyathia | solitary at distal nodes or in small, cymose clusters at branch tips; peduncle 0.2–2.5 mm. |
|
Euphorbia pediculifera |
Euphorbia vermiculata |
|
Phenology | Flowering and fruiting spring–fall. | |
Habitat | Juniper-oak woodlands, temperate deciduous forests, grasslands, pine forests, oak forests with sycamores, walnuts and alders, often in disturbed areas. | |
Elevation | 0–2600 m. (0–8500 ft.) | |
Distribution |
AZ; CA; nw Mexico
|
AZ; CT; IL; IN; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; NH; NJ; NM; NY; OH; PA; RI; VA; VT; WI; WV; NB; NS; ON; QC; Mexico; temperate deciduous forests; often in disturbed areas; walnuts and alders; oak forests with sycamores; pine forests; grasslands; Juniper-oak woodlands
|
Discussion | Varieties 2 (1 in the flora). Euphorbia pediculifera var. linearifolia S. Watson is found only near Guaymas in southwestern Sonora, Mexico. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Euphorbia vermiculata has an interesting disjunct distribution; it ranges from central Mexico to Arizona and New Mexico, and is also present in the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 281. | FNA vol. 12, p. 292. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Subordinate taxa | ||
Synonyms | Chamaesyce pediculifera | Chamaesyce rothrockii, C. vermiculata, E. rothrockii |
Name authority | Engelmann: in W. H. Emory, Rep. U.S. Mex. Bound. 2(1): 186. (1859) | Rafinesque: Amer. Monthly Mag. & Crit. Rev. 2: 206. (1818) |
Web links |