Euphorbia polyphylla |
Euphorbia vallis-mortae |
|
---|---|---|
lesser Florida spurge |
Death Valley sandmat |
|
Habit | Herbs, perennial, with spreading rootstock. | Herbs, perennial, with thickened, woody taproot. |
Stems | erect or ascending, branched, solitary, few, or occasionally densely clumped, previous year's dead stems not persistent, 18–33 cm, glabrous. |
prostrate to ascending, often mat-forming, 10–45 cm, pilose to villous. |
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 or connate, subulate to filiform, 0.4–1.1 mm, densely tomentose; petiole 0.4–1 mm, pilose to villous; blade suborbiculate to oblong-ovate, 3–8 × 2–6 mm, base slightly asymmetric, rounded, margins entire, apex rounded to obtuse, surfaces pilose to villous; 3-veined at base, midvein conspicuous, venation often obscured by pubescence. |
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. |
obconic-campanulate, 1.2–2.3 × 1–1.8 mm, densely pilose to villous; glands 4, yellow to red, subcircular to oblong, 0.2–0.5 × 0.4–0.9 mm; appendages white, flabellate to oblong, 0.1–0.7 × 0.5–1.9 mm, distal margin entire or crenulate, adaxial surface ciliate-puberulent. |
Staminate flowers | 20–25. |
15–22(–50). |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 0.6–1 mm, 2-fid at apex. |
ovary densely pilose; styles 0.4–0.8 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, 1.5–2.2 × 1.8–2.2 mm, tomentose; columella 1.2–1.6 mm. |
Seeds | ashy gray, ovoid, 2.9 × 2 mm, with obscure shallow depressions; caruncle absent. |
white, gray, or light brown, ovoid, sharply 4-angled in cross section, abaxial faces slightly convex, adaxial faces concave, 1.2–1.7 × 0.6–0.9 mm, smooth. |
Cyathia | in terminal dichasia or pleiochasia; peduncle 2–6 mm (to 20 mm for central cyathium), glabrous. |
solitary at distal nodes; peduncle 0.5–1.8 mm. |
Euphorbia polyphylla |
Euphorbia vallis-mortae |
|
Phenology | Flowering and fruiting late spring–late fall. | Flowering and fruiting late spring–fall. |
Habitat | Open sand and pine savannas. | Roadsides, desert scrub, streamsides, sandy washes. |
Elevation | 0–10 m. (0–0 ft.) | 700–2000 m. (2300–6600 ft.) |
Distribution |
FL
|
CA |
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.) |
The specific epithet of Euphorbia vallis-mortae is a misnomer because the species does not occur in Death Valley; instead, it is found at the transition of the northern edge of the Mojave Desert and the foothills of the southern Sierra Nevada in Inyo, Kern, and San Bernardino counties. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 250. | FNA vol. 12, p. 291. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Alectoroctonum | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Tithymalopsis polyphylla | Chamaesyce vallis-mortae |
Name authority | Engelmann ex Chapman: Fl. South. U.S. ed. 2, repr. 2, 694. (1892) | (Millspaugh) J. T. Howell: Madroño 2: 19. (1931) |
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