Euphorbia polyphylla |
Euphorbia setiloba |
|
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lesser Florida spurge |
fringe spurge, shaggy spurge, Yuma sandmat |
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Habit | Herbs, perennial, with spreading rootstock. | Herbs, annual, 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, mat-forming, 5–50 cm, villous with glistening glandular hairs. |
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, filiform, rudimentary to 0.2 mm, glabrous or sparsely villous with glistening glandular hairs; petiole 0.5–1.5 mm, villous; blade oblong, ovate, or elliptic, 3–7 × 2–4 mm, base asymmetric, rounded, margins entire, apex obtuse, surfaces villous; weakly 3-veined from base, commonly 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 or urceolate, 0.7–1 × 0.5–0.8 mm, villous; glands 4, red to pink, oblong to slightly reniform, 0.1–0.2 × 0.2–0.3 mm; appendages white to pink, deeply incised into 3–6 triangular to subulate, attenuate, acute segments, 0.3–0.6 × 0.6–1 mm, segments entire. |
Staminate flowers | 20–25. |
3–7. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 0.6–1 mm, 2-fid at apex. |
ovary villous; styles 0.3–0.4 mm, 2-fid 1/2 length. |
Capsules | globose, 2.3–2.8 × 4.3–5.1 mm, glabrous; columella 2.5–3.2 mm. |
subglobose to ovoid, 1–1.2 mm diam., villous; columella 0.9–1.1 mm. |
Seeds | ashy gray, ovoid, 2.9 × 2 mm, with obscure shallow depressions; caruncle absent. |
pink to light gray, narrowly ovoid, 4-angled in cross section, 0.8–1 × 0.5–0.6 mm, dimpled or with faint transverse ridges that do not pass through abaxial keel. |
Cyathia | in terminal dichasia or pleiochasia; peduncle 2–6 mm (to 20 mm for central cyathium), glabrous. |
solitary at distal nodes, nodes often congested toward tips of branches; peduncle 0.2–1.6 mm. |
Euphorbia polyphylla |
Euphorbia setiloba |
|
Phenology | Flowering and fruiting late spring–late fall. | Flowering nearly year-round in response to sufficient moisture. |
Habitat | Open sand and pine savannas. | Desert scrub, blackbrush scrub, Joshua tree woodlands, grasslands, often in sandy areas. |
Elevation | 0–10 m. (0–0 ft.) | 20–1600 m. (100–5200 ft.) |
Distribution |
FL
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AZ; CA; NM; NV; TX; UT; Mexico (Baja California, Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Durango, Sinaloa, Sonora)
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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.) |
|
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 250. | FNA vol. 12, p. 288. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Alectoroctonum | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Tithymalopsis polyphylla | Chamaesyce setiloba |
Name authority | Engelmann ex Chapman: Fl. South. U.S. ed. 2, repr. 2, 694. (1892) | Engelmann: in War Department [U.S.], Pacif. Railr. Rep. 5(2): 364. (1857) |
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