Flora of North America species comparison

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Euphorbia setiloba

Euphorbia virgata

fringe spurge, shaggy spurge, Yuma sandmat

leafy spurge, slender leafy spurge, Wolf's milk
Habit Herbs, annual, with slender taproot. Herbs, perennial, with slender, spreading rootstock.
Stems

prostrate, mat-forming, 5–50 cm, villous with glistening glandular hairs.

erect, unbranched or branched, 20–90 cm, glabrous.
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.

petiole 0–1 mm;

blade linear to linear-oblanceolate or linear-oblong (margins parallel or almost parallel at midleaf), 40–90 × 3–12 mm, base truncate or abruptly attenuate, margins entire, apex acute or rounded, sometimes mucronulate, surfaces glabrous;

venation inconspicuous, only midvein prominent.
Involucre

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.

campanulate, 1.5–3.5 × 1.7–3 mm, glabrous;

glands 4, crescent-shaped, 0.6–1.5 × 1.3–2.5 mm;

horns divergent to convergent, 0.2–0.8 mm.
Staminate flowers

3–7.

10–25.
Pistillate flowers

ovary villous;

styles 0.3–0.4 mm, 2-fid 1/2 length.

ovary glabrous;

styles 1.7–2.5 mm, 2-fid.
Capsules

subglobose to ovoid, 1–1.2 mm diam., villous;

columella 0.9–1.1 mm.

subglobose, 2.5–3.5 × 3–4.5 mm, slightly lobed;

cocci rounded, smooth except finely granulate toward abaxial line, glabrous;

columella 2–3.3 mm.
Seeds

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.

yellow-brown to gray or mottled, oblong-ellipsoid to oblong-ovoid, 2.2–2.6 × 1.3–1.6 mm, smooth;

caruncle subconic, 0.6–1 × 0.7–0.9 mm.
Cyathia

solitary at distal nodes, nodes often congested toward tips of branches;

peduncle 0.2–1.6 mm.

peduncle 0–1 mm.
Cyathial

arrangement: terminal pleiochasial branches 5–17, each 1–2 times 2-branched;

pleiochasial bracts similar in shape to but shorter and wider than distal leaves;

dichasial bracts distinct, broadly ovate, rhombic, or reniform, base cordate or cuneate, margins entire, apex obtuse to rounded, mucronulate;

axillary cymose branches 0–18.
2n

= 60.

Euphorbia setiloba

Euphorbia virgata
Phenology Flowering nearly year-round in response to sufficient moisture. Flowering and fruiting spring–fall.
Habitat Desert scrub, blackbrush scrub, Joshua tree woodlands, grasslands, often in sandy areas. Pastures, fields, waste places, shorelines, railroads, open disturbed areas.
Elevation 20–1600 m. (100–5200 ft.) 0–2600 m. (0–8500 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; NM; NV; TX; UT; Mexico (Baja California, Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Durango, Sinaloa, Sonora)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AK; AZ; CA; CO; CT; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MT; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OR; PA; SD; UT; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NS; ON; PE; QC; SK; YT; Europe; Asia [Introduced in North America]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Euphorbia virgata has caused significant economic and ecological impact over large portions of the United States and Canada. It is part of a taxonomically complex group of species native to Europe and Asia, and there has been much confusion over the naming of the species that has become widely established in the New World (A. Radcliffe-Smith 1985; P. M. Catling and G. Mitrow 2012). There has been speculation that hybridization and polyploidy have played a role in the weediness of leafy spurge, and it is possible that the widespread occurrence of leafy spurge in North America is at least partly due to multiple introductions in grain imported from Eurasia (Ma J. S. 2010). Nonetheless, a re-evaluation of the leafy spurge complex by Berry et al. (unpubl.) revealed that E. esula Linnaeus and E. virgata are two distinct, albeit related species. The true E. esula is restricted in range to certain parts of Europe and shows little tendency toward weediness where it occurs. In contrast, E. virgata is much more widespread across Europe and temperate Asia, where it shows the same weedy characteristics as leafy spurge in the New World. More importantly, it is morphologically consistent with the North American material of leafy spurge.

According to D. V. Geltman (1998), the best way to distinguish morphologically between Euphorbia virgata and E. esula is by differences in their leaf shape. In E. virgata, the leaf blades are linear to linear-oblanceolate or linear-oblong, 6–15 times longer than wide, with margins that are parallel or almost parallel at the middle of the blade; the apex is usually acute, and the base is truncate or abruptly attenuate. In E. esula, the leaf blades are oblanceolate to obovate-elliptic (distinctly wider toward apex), 3–8(–10) times longer than wide, with margins not parallel at the middle of the leaf; the apex is rounded to subacute, and the base is gradually attenuate to cuneate.

There are some herbarium specimens of Euphorbia esula from North America that indicate it probably occurred sporadically in certain states in the late 1800s and early 1900s, but the authors have no evidence that it has persisted in any of those places. Therefore in this treatment, E. esula is considered to be a waif in the North American flora and, by excluding it here, the authors hope to avoid confusion between it and the widespread E. virgata.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 288. FNA vol. 12, p. 312.
Parent taxa Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula
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. simulans, E. spathulata, E. stictospora, E. strictior, E. telephioides, 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
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. telephioides, 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. wrightii, E. yaquiana
Synonyms Chamaesyce setiloba
Name authority Engelmann: in War Department [U.S.], Pacif. Railr. Rep. 5(2): 364. (1857) Waldstein & Kitaibel: Descr. Icon. Pl. Hung. 2: 176, plate 162. (1803)
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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