Euphorbia polyphylla |
Euphorbia chaetocalyx |
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lesser Florida spurge |
bristlecup sandmat |
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Habit | Herbs, perennial, with spreading rootstock. | Herbs, perennial, with woody, thickened taproot. | ||||
Stems | erect or ascending, branched, solitary, few, or occasionally densely clumped, previous year's dead stems not persistent, 18–33 cm, glabrous. |
usually erect, rarely slightly decumbent, often densely clustered from top of woody crown, 3–15 cm, glabrous. |
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Leaves | alternate; stipules to 0.1 mm; petiole minute or absent; blade linear to filiform, 10–20 × 0.8–1.5(–4) mm, base cuneate, margins entire, often involute, apex rounded, surfaces glabrous; venation usually obscure, midvein visible at base of wider leaves. |
opposite; stipules distinct, narrowly linear, usually entire, 0.5–1 mm, glabrous; petiole 0.5–1 mm, glabrous; blade ovate to lanceolate or oblong- or linear-lanceolate, 3–11 × 0.8–3(–5) mm, base slightly asymmetric, short-tapered, occasionally one side slightly rounded, margins entire, apex acute or short-acuminate, surfaces glabrous; only midvein conspicuous. |
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Involucre | campanulate, 1.2–2 × 1.3–1.8 mm, glabrous or strigose on distal extreme; glands 5, red, elliptic, 0.5 × 1 mm; appendages white, orbiculate, 0.5–0.8 × 1.3–1.5 mm, erose. |
campanulate to turbinate, 0.8–1.4 × 0.8–1 mm, glabrous; glands 4, yellow-brown to reddish, concave or convex, elliptic or oval, 0.2–0.4 × 0.4–0.6 mm; appendages absent or white, lanceolate-deltate to straplike, 0.2–1.1 × 0.2–0.9 mm, distal margin entire, crenate, or deeply cleft or divided. |
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Staminate flowers | 20–25. |
25–35. |
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Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 0.6–1 mm, 2-fid at apex. |
ovary glabrous; styles 0.3–0.4 mm, 2-fid 1/2 length. |
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Capsules | globose, 2.3–2.8 × 4.3–5.1 mm, glabrous; columella 2.5–3.2 mm. |
depressed-ovoid to depressed-globose, 1.7–2.1 × 1.6–2.4 mm, glabrous; columella 1.2–1.8 mm. |
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Seeds | ashy gray, ovoid, 2.9 × 2 mm, with obscure shallow depressions; caruncle absent. |
white, ovoid-pyramidal, prominently 4-angled in cross section, 1.6–2 × 1–1.2 mm, smooth to slightly wrinkled. |
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Cyathia | in terminal dichasia or pleiochasia; peduncle 2–6 mm (to 20 mm for central cyathium), glabrous. |
solitary at distal nodes; peduncle 0.8–1.3 mm. |
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Euphorbia polyphylla |
Euphorbia chaetocalyx |
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Phenology | Flowering and fruiting late spring–late fall. | |||||
Habitat | Open sand and pine savannas. | |||||
Elevation | 0–10 m. (0–0 ft.) | |||||
Distribution |
FL
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AZ; NM; TX; n Mexico
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Discussion | Euphorbia polyphylla is endemic to sandy habitats in the southern half of peninsular Florida. The species has been reported from coastal Louisiana, but whether those plants represent native occurrences or plantings is unclear (R. D. Thomas and C. M. Allen 1993–1998, vol. 2). The Florida populations are here recognized as the only native occurrences. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora). Euphorbia chaetocalyx is similar to E. fendleri but can generally be distinguished from that species by its narrow, acute leaves and ± erect stems. Some authors have used the presence or absence and shape of the involucral gland appendages to help separate E. chaetocalyx from E. fendleri, but those characters appear highly variable and of little taxonomic utility. Some individuals from western Texas (Culberson and El Paso counties) and southern New Mexico appear intermediate with E. fendleri. The specific epithet of E. chaetocalyx refers to the bristly perianthlike segments that subtend the ovary, but these structures are found intermittently in both E. chaetocalyx and E. fendleri. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 250. | FNA vol. 12, p. 263. | ||||
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Alectoroctonum | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | Tithymalopsis polyphylla | E. fendleri var. chaetocalyx, Chamaesyce chaetocalyx | ||||
Name authority | Engelmann ex Chapman: Fl. South. U.S. ed. 2, repr. 2, 694. (1892) | (Boissier) Tidestrom: Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 48: 40. (1935) | ||||
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