Euphorbia polyphylla |
Euphorbia platysperma |
|
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lesser Florida spurge |
dune spurge, flat-seed spurge, flatseed sandmat |
|
Habit | Herbs, perennial, with spreading rootstock. | Herbs, annual or short-lived perennial, with slender taproot. |
Stems | erect or ascending, branched, solitary, few, or occasionally densely clumped, previous year's dead stems not persistent, 18–33 cm, glabrous. |
prostrate, spreading and often mat-forming, 10–100 cm, glabrous. |
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 usually distinct, occasionally connate basally, rarely to middle, subulate, narrowly triangular, or divided into 2–4 subulate segments, 0.5–1.1 mm, glabrous; petiole 1–3.6 mm, glabrous; blade oblong to obovate, 5–12 × 3–5 mm, base subsymmetric, cuneate to attenuate, margins entire, apex usually acute to mucronulate, rarely obtuse, surfaces glabrous; only midvein conspicuous. |
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 obconic, 1.5–2 × 1.3–2.5 mm, glabrous; glands 4, yellowish, subcircular to oblong, 0.5–0.6 × 0.5–0.6 mm; appendages white, ovate to oblong or almost triangular, 0.3–0.6 × 0.3–0.8 mm, distal margin entire or shallowly 2–3-lobed. |
Staminate flowers | 20–25. |
45–50. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 0.6–1 mm, 2-fid at apex. |
ovary glabrous, styles 0.4–0.6 mm, 2-fid 1/2 length. |
Capsules | globose, 2.3–2.8 × 4.3–5.1 mm, glabrous; columella 2.5–3.2 mm. |
ovoid to ellipsoid, 2.7–3.2 × 2.2–2.9 mm, glabrous; columella 2.6–2.8 mm. |
Seeds | ashy gray, ovoid, 2.9 × 2 mm, with obscure shallow depressions; caruncle absent. |
whitish, pinkish, or light brown, ellipsoid-oblong, weakly dorsiventrally compressed and semielliptic in cross section, 2.2–2.5 × 1.3–1.6 mm, with sharp linelike longitudinal ridge on adaxial side, smooth and rounded on back. |
Cyathia | in terminal dichasia or pleiochasia; peduncle 2–6 mm (to 20 mm for central cyathium), glabrous. |
solitary at distal nodes; peduncle 1.6–4.1 mm. |
Euphorbia polyphylla |
Euphorbia platysperma |
|
Phenology | Flowering and fruiting late spring–late fall. | Flowering and fruiting year-round in response to sufficient moisture. |
Habitat | Open sand and pine savannas. | Sand dunes in Sonoran Desert scrub. |
Elevation | 0–10 m. (0–0 ft.) | 60–200 m. (200–700 ft.) |
Distribution |
FL
|
AZ; CA; Mexico (Baja California, Sonora) |
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.) |
|
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 250. | FNA vol. 12, p. 282. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Alectoroctonum | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Tithymalopsis polyphylla | Chamaesyce platysperma |
Name authority | Engelmann ex Chapman: Fl. South. U.S. ed. 2, repr. 2, 694. (1892) | Engelmann: in W. H. Brewer et al., Bot. California 2: 482. (1880) |
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