Flora of North America species comparison

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Euphorbia sect. Nummulariopsis

Euphorbia telephioides

telephus spurge
Habit Herbs, perennial [rarely annual], with slender to thickened, usually erect, occasionally spreading, rootstock. Herbs, perennial, with thickened rootstock.
Stems

erect or ascending [prostrate], branched or unbranched, terete, glabrous [hairy].

erect or ascending, 20–30 cm.
Leaves

alternate [opposite];

stipules absent [present, at base of petiole];

petiole absent or indistinct;

blade dimorphic (at proximal 2–4 nodes triangular and much smaller than at distal nodes) [monomorphic], base symmetric, margins entire, surfaces glabrous;

venation pinnate, midvein often prominent.

petiole usually absent or indistinct, occasionally to 5.5 mm, blade elliptic or obovate, 31–60 × 7–32 mm, thick and fleshy, base attenuate or cuneate, apex acute, obtuse, or mucronate;

venation pinnate with 8–13 lateral veins, these sometimes obscure and only midvein evident.
Involucre

± actinomorphic, not spurred;

glands 5, flat or slightly convex;

appendages absent.

campanulate, 1.3–2.3 × 1.6–2.5 mm, lobes ovate to oblong, 0.5–0.7 mm, ciliate;

glands purple-red, oblong to trapezoidal, 0.5–0.7 × 0.8–1.2 mm, distal margins entire or crenulate.
Staminate flowers

[10–]20–30.

25–30.
Pistillate flowers

ovary glabrous, subtended by calyxlike structure;

styles connate 1/8–1/2 length, 2-fid apically.

gynophore exserted 1.9–3.2 mm, calyxlike lobes triangular, 0.2–0.7 mm;

styles connate 1/4 length, 1.3–1.5 mm.
Capsules

ovoid-oblate, 5.2–5.6 × 6.6–8.3 mm, 3-lobed;

columella 3.9–4.1 mm.
Seeds

caruncle absent.

blackish to dark brown, ovoid to globose-ovoid, circular in cross section, 3.2–3.5 × 2.6–3.1 mm, smooth, base rounded to flattened, apex rounded, occasionally with low point.
Cyathial

arrangement: terminal pleiochasia with 2–5 primary branches;

individual pleiochasial branches 2-branched at each node;

bracts subtending pleiochasia (pleiochasial bracts) whorled, green, similar in shape but slightly smaller than distal stem leaves, those on branches and subtending cyathia (dichasial and subcyathial bracts) opposite, distinct;

additional cymose branches occasionally present in axils of distal leaves, but alternately arranged and without whorled bracts.

arrangement: terminal pleiochasial branches (2–)3, 5–13 cm, 3–7 times 2-branched;

pleiochasial bracts ovate to oblong, 17–31 × 8–15 mm, margins entire, apex acute or obtuse;

dichasial bracts ovate, 5–19 × 3–9 mm, margins entire, apex acute or obtuse;

axillary cymose branches 1–5.
Cyathia

peduncle 3–9.2 mm (often exceeding subcyathial leaves).

Euphorbia sect. Nummulariopsis

Euphorbia telephioides
Phenology Flowering and fruiting spring–fall.
Habitat Scrubby pine flatwoods, grasslands, disturbed areas, often in sandy soils.
Elevation 0–20 m. (0–100 ft.)
Distribution
se United States; South America
from FNA
FL
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Species ca. 30 (4 in the flora).

Section Nummulariopsis belongs to subg. Euphorbia and has a disjunct distribution, with species native to the southeastern United States and to temperate and subtropical areas of southern South America. In the flora area, the species are restricted to sandy habitats from Florida and southern Georgia to southern Mississippi. All species are adapted to sandy pinelands or scrub vegetation characterized by wide fluctuations in soil moisture and periodic, recurrent natural fires (E. L. Bridges and S. L. Orzell 2002).

In the key and descriptions that follow, leaf refers to the leaves at mid and distal nodes.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Euphorbia telephioides, federally listed as threatened, is known only from Bay, Franklin, and Gulf counties in the Apalachicola region of the east-central Florida panhandle.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Leaf blades linear, linear-elliptic, linear-lanceolate, or lanceolate, length 7+ times width, largest 15 mm wide or less (usually less than 10 mm wide).
→ 2
2. Peduncles (except for that of 1st cyathium at base of pleiochasia) 2–5 mm, not exceeding dichasial bracts; seeds depressed-globose, wider than long.
E. floridana
2. Peduncles 6–24 mm, often exceeding dichasial bracts; seeds ovoid-globose, longer than wide.
E. inundata
1. Leaf blades elliptic, narrowly elliptic, narrowly oblong, or obovate, length less than 6 times width, largest usually 16+ mm wide.
→ 3
3. Involucres 2.4–3.6 × 2.5–3.6 mm; styles 3.3–3.6 mm, connate 1/2 length; Highlands County, c peninsular Florida.
E. rosescens
3. Involucres 1.3–2.3 × 1.6–2.5 mm; styles (1–)1.3–1.5 mm, connate 1/4 length; Bay, Franklin, and Gulf counties, ec Florida panhandle.
E. telephioides
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 313. Authors: Victor W. Steinmann, Jess A. Peirson. FNA vol. 12, p. 316.
Parent taxa Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Nummulariopsis
Sibling taxa
E. aaron-rossii, E. abramsiana, E. acuta, E. agraria, E. albomarginata, E. alta, E. angusta, E. antisyphilitica, E. arizonica, E. astyla, E. austrotexana, E. bicolor, E. bifurcata, E. bilobata, E. blodgettii, E. bombensis, E. brachycera, E. capitellata, E. carunculata, E. chaetocalyx, E. chamaesula, E. cinerascens, E. commutata, E. conferta, E. cordifolia, E. corollata, E. crenulata, E. cumulicola, E. cuphosperma, E. curtisii, E. cyathophora, E. cyparissias, E. davidii, E. deltoidea, E. dendroides, E. dentata, E. discoidalis, E. eriantha, E. exigua, E. exserta, E. exstipulata, E. falcata, E. fendleri, E. florida, E. floridana, E. garberi, E. georgiana, E. geyeri, E. glyptosperma, E. golondrina, E. gracillima, E. graminea, E. helioscopia, E. helleri, E. heterophylla, E. hexagona, E. hirta, E. hooveri, E. humistrata, E. hypericifolia, E. hyssopifolia, E. indivisa, E. innocua, E. inundata, E. ipecacuanhae, E. jaegeri, E. jejuna, E. laredana, E. lasiocarpa, E. lata, E. lathyris, E. longicruris, E. lurida, E. macropus, E. maculata, E. marginata, E. meganaesos, E. melanadenia, E. mendezii, E. mercurialina, E. mesembrianthemifolia, E. micromera, E. misera, E. missurica, E. myrsinites, E. nephradenia, E. nutans, E. oblongata, E. ocellata, E. ophthalmica, E. ouachitana, E. parishii, E. parryi, E. pediculifera, E. peplidion, E. peplus, E. perennans, E. pergamena, E. pinetorum, E. platyphyllos, E. platysperma, E. polycarpa, E. polygonifolia, E. polyphylla, E. porteriana, E. prostrata, E. pubentissima, E. purpurea, E. radians, E. rayturneri, E. revoluta, E. roemeriana, E. rosescens, E. schizoloba, E. serpens, E. serpillifolia, E. serrata, E. serrula, E. setiloba, E. simulans, E. spathulata, E. stictospora, E. strictior, E. terracina, E. tetrapora, E. texana, E. theriaca, E. thymifolia, E. tithymaloides, E. trachysperma, E. trichotoma, E. vallis-mortae, E. velleriflora, E. vermiculata, E. villifera, E. virgata, E. wrightii, E. yaquiana
Subordinate taxa
E. floridana, E. inundata, E. rosescens, E. telephioides
Synonyms Galarhoeus telephioides
Name authority Boissier: in A. P. de Candolle and A. L. P. P. de Candolle, Prodr. 15(2): 71. (1862) Chapman: Fl. South. U.S., 402. (1860)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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