Euphorbia terracina |
Euphorbia parishii |
|
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carnation spurge, Geraldton carnation weed, terracina spurge |
Parish's sandmat |
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Habit | Herbs, perennial or biennial, with taproot. | Herbs or subshrubs, perennial, with thickened and often woody rootstock. |
Stems | erect, unbranched or branched, 10–100 cm, glabrous. |
prostrate, sometimes forming dense mounds, 10–50 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. |
opposite; stipules distinct, subulate-filiform, 0.3–0.9 mm, pilose; petiole 0.3–1.2 mm, glabrous; blade usually ovate, rarely oblong, 2–7 × 1–5 mm, base usually asymmetric, rounded to hemicordate, margins entire, apex usually obtuse, rarely acute, surfaces glabrous; only midvein conspicuous. |
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 to campanulate, 1–1.4 × 0.9–1.3 mm, glabrous except for pilose lobes; glands 4, pink to maroon, circular, 0.3–0.4 × 0.3–0.4 mm; appendages absent. |
Staminate flowers | 15–20. |
40–50. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 1–1.8 mm, 2-fid. |
ovary glabrous; styles 0.3–0.6 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. |
ovoid to oblate-ovoid, 1.6–1.7 × 1.6–1.9 mm, glabrous; columella 1.2–1.5 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. |
whitish to light brown, ovoid, 4-angled in cross section, 1.2–1.4 × 0.6–0.8 mm, rugose or with indistinct, irregular, low 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 at distal nodes; peduncle 0.1–0.6(–2.2) mm. |
Euphorbia terracina |
Euphorbia parishii |
|
Phenology | Flowering and fruiting spring–summer. | Flowering and fruiting fall–summer. |
Habitat | Edges of cultivated fields and woodlands, roadsides, waste areas, pastures, coastal bluffs, dunes, riparian areas. | Desert scrub, often with creosote bush, disturbed roadsides, rocky soils. |
Elevation | 0–300 m. (0–1000 ft.) | -90–600 m. (-300–2000 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA; Europe [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Mexico, s Africa, Australia]
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CA; NV |
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 parishii is common in the Death Valley region of southern California, where it is often encountered well below sea level. The species is frequently confused with E. micromera and E. polycarpa but differs from the former in being a more robust plant with larger cyathia and from the latter in lacking involucral gland appendages. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 310. | FNA vol. 12, p. 280. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Tithymalus terracinus | Chamaesyce parishii, E. polycarpa var. parishii |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. ed. 2, 1: 654. (1762) | Greene: Bull. Calif. Acad. Sci. 2: 56. (1886) |
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