Flora of North America species comparison

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Euphorbia spathulata

Euphorbia myrsinites

prairie spurge, reticulate seed spurge, spatulate leaf spurge, warty spurge

broad leaf glaucous spurge, donkey tail, myrtle or creeping or blue spurge, myrtle spurge
Habit Herbs, usually annual, rarely biennial, with taproot. Herbs, usually perennial, occasionally biennial, with taproot.
Stems

erect or ascending, unbranched or branched, 10–70 cm, glabrous.

erect or semiprostrate, unbranched or branched, 15–40 cm, succulent, glabrous.
Leaves

petiole absent or to 0.2 mm;

blade oblanceolate, oblong-oblanceolate, spatulate, or cuneate, 10–50 × 6–11 mm, base broadly attenuate to rounded or shallowly cordate-clasping, margins finely serrulate (usually distally), apex usually rounded to obtuse, occasionally slightly retuse or obcordate proximally, bluntly mucronate, surfaces glabrous;

venation pinnate, midvein prominent.

petiole 0–2 mm;

blade obovate, obovate-oblong, lanceolate, orbiculate, or suborbiculate, 2–30 × 3–17 mm, fleshy, base truncate or attenuate, margins entire or finely denticulate, apex acute to obtuse, cuspidate or strongly mucronate, surfaces glabrous;

venation and midvein inconspicuous.
Involucre

campanulate to cupulate, 0.6–1(–1.5) × 0.8–1.2 mm, glabrous;

glands 4–5, elliptic, oblong, to slightly reniform, 0.2–0.6 × 0.4–1 mm;

horns absent.

campanulate, 2.4–2.6 × 2.3–2.5 mm, glabrous;

glands 4, trapezoidal, 1–1.5 × 1.5–2.5 mm;

horns divergent, thick, tips rounded, dilated, 0.5–0.9 mm.
Staminate flowers

3–10.

6–12.
Pistillate flowers

ovary glabrous;

styles 0.8–1.5 mm, 2-fid.

ovary glabrous;

styles 2.5–2.8 mm, usually unbranched.
Capsules

depressed-globose, 2–3.5 × 4 mm, 3-lobed;

cocci rounded, verrucose, verrucae 0.1–0.2 mm, glabrous;

columella 1.4–2.2 mm.

subglobose, 5–7 × 5–6 mm, unlobed;

cocci rounded to subangular, smooth, glabrous;

columella 4.5–5 mm.
Seeds

red-brown to dark purple, occasionally ± glaucous, broadly ellipsoid-ovoid to nearly globose, 1.3–2.5 × 1.5–1.8 mm, smooth, reticulate, or finely low-ridged;

caruncle irregularly reniform to round, subconic to lenticular, 0.3–0.4 × 0.5–0.6 mm.

brownish to grayish, oblong, 2.8–4.5 × 2–3.2 mm, vermiculate-rugose;

caruncle substipitate, trapezoidal or mushroom-shaped, 1.3–1.5 × 0.6–0.8 mm.
Cyathial

arrangement: terminal pleiochasial branches 3(–5), each 1–3 times 2-branched;

pleiochasial bracts broadly ovate to ovate-oblong, shorter and wider than distal leaves;

dichasial bracts distinct, broadly ovate, ovate-triangular, or ovate-elliptic, base cordate-clasping or subcordate to rounded, margins serrulate, apex rounded to obtuse or acute;

axillary cymose branches (0–4)5–12.

arrangement: terminal pleiochasial branches 2–12, each 1–2 times 2-branched;

pleiochasial bracts similar in shape and size to distal leaves;

dichasial bracts distinct, suborbiculate or reniform, base truncate, margins entire or minutely denticulate, apex obtuse, mucronulate;

axillary cymose branches 0–4.
Cyathia

peduncle 0.3–1(–1.5) mm.

peduncle 0.5–1 mm.

Euphorbia spathulata

Euphorbia myrsinites
Phenology Flowering and fruiting spring–summer. Flowering and fruiting spring–summer.
Habitat Forests, fallow fields, prairies, pastures, glades, stream banks, waste places, roadsides. Scrub oak communities, open ground near forests, shrub-steppes.
Elevation 0–3500 m. (0–11500 ft.) 0–2400 m. (0–7900 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; AZ; CA; CO; DC; FL; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MD; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; ND; NE; NM; OH; OK; OR; PA; SC; SD; TN; TX; UT; VA; WA; WI; WV; WY; ON; Mexico (Chihuahua, Sonora); s South America
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; CO; ID; MT; NM; OR; UT; WA; WY; BC; s Europe; w Asia [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

As treated here, Euphorbia spathulata is a wide-ranging and variable species. J. B. S. Norton (1900) recognized a number of segregates (for example, E. arkansana, E. dictyosperma, and E. obtusata) all of which are included here in a broadly defined E. spathulata. The only segregate species that has been widely recognized in regional floras is E. obtusata (for example, M. L. Fernald 1950; T. S. Cooperrider 1995; G. Yatskievych 1999–2013, vol. 2). Authors have generally distinguished the eastern North American E. obtusata from the western E. spathulata by the former's larger seeds (1.7–2.3 mm versus 1.5–1.7 mm) with smooth (versus reticulate) surfaces, larger involucres, red (versus yellow) involucral glands, and cordate-clasping (versus rounded to subcordate) dichasial bracts. Examination of specimens of E. spathulata in the broad sense from throughout North America showed that there is some geographic patterning to seed size and surface sculpturing, but the variation does not segregate cleanly into two discrete taxa. Plants from western North America typically have small seeds (1.5–1.7 mm) with reticulate surfaces, although some western individuals have seeds 1.8–1.9 mm long with reticulate surfaces. Plants from Texas generally have small seeds (1.5–1.6 mm) but with the surfaces either reticulate or completely smooth. Plants from adjacent Louisiana have small seeds with faintly reticulate to almost bumpy surfaces. Plants from eastern North America have larger seeds (2–2.3 mm) with usually smooth surfaces, although individuals from Tennessee and the Carolinas have faintly reticulate surfaces. Involucre height, gland color, and the shape of the dichasial bracts do not segregate with seed size as previous treatments have suggested.

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

Euphorbia myrsinites is cultivated in much of the flora area, where it can tolerate cold winters. In some areas, it can locally escape from cultivation.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 309. FNA vol. 12, p. 305.
Parent taxa Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula 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. setiloba, E. simulans, 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. 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. virgata, E. wrightii, E. yaquiana
Synonyms E. arkansana, E. dictyosperma, E. obtusata, Galarhoeus arkansanus, G. obtusatus, Tithymalus arkansanus, T. dictyospermus, T. obtusatus, T. spathulatus Tithymalus myrsinites
Name authority Lamarck: in J. Lamarck et al., Encycl. 2: 428. (1788) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 461. (1753)
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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