Euphorbia radians |
Euphorbia corollata |
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sun spurge |
eastern flowering spurge, flowering spurge, floweringspurge euphorbia |
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Habit | Herbs, perennial, with moniliform tuberous rootstock. | Herbs, perennial, with deep, spreading rootstock. |
Stems | erect, 5–20(–30) cm, usually glabrous, occasionally puberulent; branches ± straight. |
erect or ascending, usually unbranched, occasionally few branched, solitary or few, previous year's dead stems not persistent, 20–100 cm, glabrous or slightly pilose to villous. |
Leaves | alternate; petiole 0–2 mm, glabrous or strigose; blade linear-lanceolate to ovate or broadly elliptic, 25–50 × 3–20 mm, unlobed, base rounded (tapered to petiole), margins with few glandular teeth, strigillose, flat to revolute, apex acute, abaxial surface coarsely strigose, adaxial surface strigose-hirsute; venation pinnate, midvein prominent. |
alternate, ascending; stipules 0.1–0.2 mm; petiole minute or absent; blade oblanceolate, obovate, or elliptic, 25–55 × 5–12 mm, base cuneate to rounded, margins entire, occasionally slightly revolute, apex rounded to subacute, abaxial surface glabrous or pilose to villous, adaxial surface usually glabrous, rarely villous; venation occasionally obscure on small leaves, midvein conspicuous. |
Involucre | broadly globose-cupulate, 1.7–2.1 × 2.2–2.5 mm, glabrous or puberulent; involucral lobes divided into triangular segments; glands 1–4(–5), white, sessile and broadly attached, 1.1 × 1.4 mm, opening oblong, glabrous; appendages absent. |
campanulate, 1.2–1.5 × 1.2–1.5(–2) mm, glabrous or moderately puberulent (especially near glands); glands 5, green, reniform, 0.5 × 0.8–1 mm; appendages white, flabellate, 2.5–3.5(–4.5) × 2.5–3.2 mm, entire. |
Staminate flowers | 20–25. |
20–25. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous or puberulent, styles 3–4 mm, 2-fid 1/2 to nearly entire length. |
ovary glabrous; styles 0.8–1.4 mm, 2-fid at apex to 1/2 length. |
Capsules | depressed-globose, 3.8–5 × 4–5 mm, 3-lobed, glabrous or puberulent; columella 3.6–4.5 mm. |
globose, 2.3–3 × 3.5–4.2 mm, glabrous; columella 2–2.5 mm. |
Seeds | white, mottled brown to gray, ellipsoid, rounded in cross section, 4–4.6 × 2.4–3.2 mm, smoothly and broadly pitted or grooved; caruncle 0.1 mm. |
white or light gray, ovoid, 2.5–2.8 × 2.2 mm, with shallow and coarse depressions; caruncle absent. |
Cyathial | arrangement: terminal pleiochasial branches usually 3, occasionally reduced to congested cyme, 1–2-branched (often highly condensed); pleiochasial bracts 6–8(–10), as tight involucrate whorl, wholly white to pale pink or red, usually narrower than distal leaves; dichasial bracts linear and highly reduced. |
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Cyathia | peduncle 2–5.5 mm. |
in terminal pleiochasia, dichasial bracts occasionally whorled or rarely alternate; peduncle (1.5–)5–11(–13) mm (proximal to 70 mm), glabrous. |
Euphorbia radians |
Euphorbia corollata |
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Phenology | Flowering and fruiting spring–summer. | Flowering and fruiting early summer–fall. |
Habitat | Pinyon-juniper woodlands, oak savannas, desert grasslands and scrub. | Prairies, open fields, upland woods, glades, barrens, borders of swamps, roadsides, disturbed sites. |
Elevation | 700–2500 m. (2300–8200 ft.) | 0–1300 m. (0–4300 ft.) |
Distribution |
AZ; TX; Mexico
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AL; AR; CT; DE; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; NC; NE; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; VA; VT; WI; WV; ON
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Discussion | Euphorbia radians is widely distributed but scattered from the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts south to Oaxaca in Mexico. The species is distinct among species in sect. Poinsettia in the flora area in its precocious habit, often flowering before the leaves emerge. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Euphorbia corollata is morphologically variable and widely distributed across a large part of eastern North America. The species appears to be expanding its range, as adventive populations have been reported from disturbed habitats at the northern edge of its range in Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, South Dakota, and Vermont. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 324. | FNA vol. 12, p. 244. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Poinsettia | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Alectoroctonum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Poinsettia radians | E. corollata var. molle, E. corollata var. viridiflora, E. marilandica, E. olivacea, Tithymalopsis corollata, T. olivacea |
Name authority | Bentham: Pl. Hartw., 8. (1839) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 459. (1753) |
Web links |