Euphorbia terracina |
Euphorbia laredana |
|
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carnation spurge, Geraldton carnation weed, terracina spurge |
Laredo sandmat |
|
Habit | Herbs, perennial or biennial, with taproot. | Herbs, annual, with taproot. |
Stems | erect, unbranched or branched, 10–100 cm, glabrous. |
prostrate, ± mat-forming, 10–20 cm, densely ashy pilose-tomentose. |
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, filiform, 0.5–1 mm, pilose-tomentose; petiole 0.5–1 mm, pilose-tomentose; blade ovate to elliptic-oblong, 3–6 × 3–5 mm, base markedly asymmetric, rounded to slightly auriculate, margins usually entire, rarely largest leaves sparsely serrulate, apex acute to obtuse, surfaces moderately to densely strigose; 3-veined from base. |
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. |
obconic, 0.6–1 × 0.5–1 mm, densely strigose; glands 4, yellowish to reddish, oval to oblong, 0.1 × 0.2–0.3 mm; appendages white to pink, rudimentary or minute, (0–)0.1–0.2 × (0–)0.1–0.3 mm, distal margin crenulate. |
Staminate flowers | 15–20. |
3–5. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 1–1.8 mm, 2-fid. |
ovary densely white villous; styles 0.1–0.2 mm, 2-fid 1/2 length. |
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 ovoid, 1.3–1.5 × 1.4–1.5 mm, villous on keels, often glabrous or less hairy between keels; columella 1.1–1.3 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, barely concealing brown undercoat, 4-angled, sharply angled in cross section, abaxial faces plane to convex, adaxial faces concave, 1.1–1.2 × 0.5–0.7 mm, with several rounded, irregular, transverse ridges. |
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. |
|
Cyathia | peduncle 1–3 mm. |
solitary or in small, cymose clusters at distal nodes or on congested, axillary branches; peduncle 0.5–1.5 mm. |
Euphorbia terracina |
Euphorbia laredana |
|
Phenology | Flowering and fruiting spring–summer. | Flowering and fruiting almost year-round. |
Habitat | Edges of cultivated fields and woodlands, roadsides, waste areas, pastures, coastal bluffs, dunes, riparian areas. | Open sandy, loamy, or gravelly sites, old dunes, pastures. |
Elevation | 0–300 m. (0–1000 ft.) | 0–200 m. (0–700 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA; Europe [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Mexico, s Africa, Australia]
|
TX; Mexico (Tamaulipas) |
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.) |
Euphorbia laredana is similar to E. prostrata but differs from that species in its more densely tomentose indumentum, leaves with usually entire rather than serrulate margins, and slightly longer seeds with rounded rather than sharp ridges. The species occurs primarily in southern Texas. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 310. | FNA vol. 12, p. 274. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Tithymalus terracinus | Chamaesyce laredana |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. ed. 2, 1: 654. (1762) | Millspaugh: Pittonia 2: 88. (1890) |
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