Euphorbia terracina |
Euphorbia deltoidea |
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carnation spurge, Geraldton carnation weed, terracina spurge |
wedge sandmat |
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Habit | Herbs, perennial or biennial, with taproot. | Herbs, perennial, delicate, with woody, thickened taproot, 15 mm diam.. | ||||||||||||||||
Stems | erect, unbranched or branched, 10–100 cm, glabrous. |
prostrate, ascending, or erect, often numerous and wiry, less than 0.1 mm diam., 5–20 cm, glabrous, puberulent, canescent, villous, or hirsute, shorter hairs often uncinate and longer hairs straight or irregularly twisted. |
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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. |
opposite; stipules distinct, triangular, sometimes lacerate or ciliate, 0.2–0.3 mm, glabrous or hairy; petiole 0.3–1 mm, glabrous or hairy; blade narrowly to broadly deltate, cordate, or reniform, 2–5(–7) × 1–4.5(–5) mm, base asymmetric, cordate to rounded, margins entire, ± revolute, apex obtuse or rounded, surfaces glabrous or hairy; only midvein conspicuous. |
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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. |
turbinate to campanulate, 0.8–1 × 1.1–1.3 mm, glabrous or hairy; glands 4, green to yellow-green, oblong to subcircular, 0.2–0.4 × 0.4–0.6 mm; appendages absent or white, forming narrow rim at edge of gland, rarely slightly wider than gland, (0–)0.1(–0.3) × 0.4–0.6 mm, distal margin entire. |
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Staminate flowers | 15–20. |
8–14. |
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Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 1–1.8 mm, 2-fid. |
ovary glabrous or hairy, subtended by triangular pad of tissue; styles spreading, 0.3–0.4 mm, 2-fid 1/2 to nearly entire length. |
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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. |
broadly deltoid, 1.2–1.5 × 2–2.2 mm, glabrous or hairy; columella 0.9–1.3 mm. |
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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. |
reddish brown, ovoid, 4-angled in cross section, 0.8–1.2 × 0.5–0.6 mm, obscurely wrinkled. |
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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. |
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Cyathia | peduncle 1–3 mm. |
solitary at distal nodes; peduncle 0.7–1.5 mm. |
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Euphorbia terracina |
Euphorbia deltoidea |
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Phenology | Flowering and fruiting spring–summer. | |||||||||||||||||
Habitat | Edges of cultivated fields and woodlands, roadsides, waste areas, pastures, coastal bluffs, dunes, riparian areas. | |||||||||||||||||
Elevation | 0–300 m. (0–1000 ft.) | |||||||||||||||||
Distribution |
CA; Europe [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Mexico, s Africa, Australia]
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FL |
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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.) |
Subspecies 4 (4 in the flora). Euphorbia deltoidea comprises four narrowly endemic subspecies, all of which are endangered due to habitat loss and fragmentation. The subspecies occur in pine rockland habitat that is free of shrubby undergrowth. Periodic fires are required to keep the rockland habitat open. Subspecies serpyllum is restricted to Big Pine Key, Monroe County, whereas the other subspecies are found only in Miami-Dade County. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 310. | FNA vol. 12, p. 265. | ||||||||||||||||
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum | ||||||||||||||||
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Synonyms | Tithymalus terracinus | Chamaesyce deltoidea | ||||||||||||||||
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. ed. 2, 1: 654. (1762) | Engelmann ex Chapman: Fl. South. U.S. ed. 2, 647. (1883) | ||||||||||||||||
Web links |