Euphorbia terracina |
Euphorbia commutata |
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carnation spurge, Geraldton carnation weed, terracina spurge |
tinted euphorbia, tinted woodland spurge |
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Habit | Herbs, perennial or biennial, with taproot. | Herbs, usually biennial, occasionally annual, with taproot. |
Stems | erect, unbranched or branched, 10–100 cm, glabrous. |
erect or ascending, decumbent and often branched near base, 10–40 cm, glabrous. |
Leaves | petiole absent; blade linear, linear-lanceolate, oblong-elliptic, or obovate, 4–50 × 2–10 mm, base obtuse or truncate, margins finely serrulate, apex acute, obtuse, or truncate, sometimes mucronulate, surfaces glabrous; venation inconspicuous, only midvein prominent. |
petiole usually 5–10 mm, 0–1 mm distally; blade usually oblanceolate to obovate, rarely ovate, 5–30 × 3–10 mm, base broadly attenuate, margins entire, apex usually obtuse to rounded, occasionally slightly retuse, surfaces glabrous; venation pinnate, midvein prominent. |
Involucre | cupulate to slightly turbinate, 1.1–2 × 1.3–1.5 mm, glabrous or puberulent; glands 4, elliptic to trapezoidal, 0.6–0.8 × 1–2 mm; horns slightly convergent to divergent, 1–2 mm. |
campanulate, 1.7–2.5 × 1.5–2.5 mm, glabrous; glands 4, crescent-shaped; 0.6–1 × 0.8–1.5 mm; horns divergent, 0.5–1.1 mm. |
Staminate flowers | 15–20. |
9–15. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 1–1.8 mm, 2-fid. |
ovary glabrous; styles 0.9–1.3 mm, 2-fid. |
Capsules | depressed-globose, 2.5–3 × 3–4.5 mm, deeply 3-lobed; cocci rounded to subangular, smooth, glabrous; columella 1.9–2.3 mm. |
ovoid-globose, 2.5–3.2 × 3 mm, slightly lobed; cocci rounded to ± flattened, smooth, glabrous; columella 1.5–2 mm. |
Seeds | pale gray, subovoid, 1.6–2.4 × 1.3–1.8 mm, smooth; caruncle boat-shaped, 0.4–0.6 × 0.4–0.6 mm. |
white to gray, broadly oblong-elliptic to ovoid or nearly globose, 1.5–2 × 1.3–1.6 mm, strongly small-pitted; caruncle irregularly winglike, conic, 0.6–1 × 0.7–0.9 mm. |
Cyathial | arrangement: terminal pleiochasial branches 2–5, each 1–5 times 2-branched; pleiochasial bracts lanceolate, elliptic or ovate, similar in size to distal leaves; dichasial bracts distinct, ovate to subreniform, base cuneate to cordate, margins finely serrulate, apex acute, obtuse, or rounded, sometimes mucronulate or cuspidate; axillary cymose branches 0–7. |
arrangement: terminal pleiochasial branches (2–)3(–4), 1–3+ times 2-branched; pleiochasial bracts similar in shape and size to distal leaves; dichasial bracts distinct to basally subconnate, not imbricate, widely ovate, rhombic, or reniform, base cordate, rarely slightly perfoliate, margins entire, apex obtuse to rounded, mucronulate; axillary cymose branches 0–5. |
Cyathia | peduncle 1–3 mm. |
peduncle 0.5–1 mm. |
Euphorbia terracina |
Euphorbia commutata |
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Phenology | Flowering and fruiting spring–summer. | Flowering and fruiting spring–summer. |
Habitat | Edges of cultivated fields and woodlands, roadsides, waste areas, pastures, coastal bluffs, dunes, riparian areas. | Bottomland and upland forests, bluffs and ledges, stream banks, glades, rarely fen margins. |
Elevation | 0–300 m. (0–1000 ft.) | 50–1000 m. (200–3300 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA; Europe [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Mexico, s Africa, Australia]
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AL; AR; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KY; LA; MD; MI; MO; MS; NC; OH; OK; PA; SC; TN; VA; WI; WV; ON
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Discussion | Euphorbia terracina is native to the Mediterranean region of Europe. This species is invasive and spreading rapidly, displacing native coastal scrub in southern California, and has been listed as a noxious weed by that state. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 310. | FNA vol. 12, p. 300. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Tithymalus terracinus | Galarhoeus austrinus, G. commutatus, Tithymalus commutatus |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. ed. 2, 1: 654. (1762) | Engelmann: in A. Gray, Manual ed. 2, 389. (1856) |
Web links |