Euphorbia terracina |
Euphorbia pinetorum |
|
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carnation spurge, Geraldton carnation weed, terracina spurge |
pineland spurge |
|
Habit | Herbs, perennial or biennial, with taproot. | Herbs, perennial, with thickened, woody taproot. |
Stems | erect, unbranched or branched, 10–100 cm, glabrous. |
erect, 30–100 cm, glabrous; branches ± straight. |
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. |
usually alternate, occasionally opposite proximally; petiole 0–1.5 mm, glabrous; blade narrowly lanceolate to linear, base long-attenuate, 30–120 × 2.5–5 mm, margins usually entire, occasionally with few inconspicuous teeth, revolute, apex narrowly acute, surfaces glabrous; venation obscurely 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, 1.5–1.9 × 1.4–1.7 mm, glabrous; involucral lobes divided into broad, triangular segments; glands 3(–5), red to purple, sessile and broadly attached, 0.8–1.1 × 1.2–1.6 mm, opening oblong (flattened without pressing), without annular rim, glabrous; appendages absent. |
Staminate flowers | 15–20. |
8–12. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 1–1.8 mm, 2-fid. |
ovary glabrous; styles 1.5 mm, 2-fid nearly entire 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. |
purpurescent, depressed-globose, 2.8–3.2 × 3.6–4 mm, 3-lobed, glabrous; columella 2.6–2.9 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. |
dark brown, cylindric-ovoid to ovoid, rounded in cross section, 2.1–2.4 × 2 mm, uniformly low-tuberculate, tubercles in median, transverse ridge; caruncle absent. |
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 monochasial or dichasial branches 1–2, unbranched; pleiochasial bracts 2–3, often whorled, wholly purpurescent green or pink at base, similar in shape and size to distal leaves or slightly narrower; dichasial bracts highly reduced. |
Cyathia | peduncle 1–3 mm. |
peduncle 1.5–3 mm. |
Euphorbia terracina |
Euphorbia pinetorum |
|
Phenology | Flowering and fruiting spring–summer. | Flowering and fruiting year-round. |
Habitat | Edges of cultivated fields and woodlands, roadsides, waste areas, pastures, coastal bluffs, dunes, riparian areas. | Sandy soils in pinelands. |
Elevation | 0–300 m. (0–1000 ft.) | 0–10 m. (0–0 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA; Europe [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Mexico, s Africa, Australia]
|
FL |
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 pinetorum has a restricted distribution in southern peninsular Florida, primarily in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties. The species is very similar to narrow-leaved forms of the closely related E. cyathophora but differs in its perennial habit, consistently unlobed leaves, and purpurescent involucral glands and cyathia. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 310. | FNA vol. 12, p. 323. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Poinsettia |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Tithymalus terracinus | Poinsettia pinetorum |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. ed. 2, 1: 654. (1762) | (Small) G. L. Webster: J. Arnold Arbor. 48: 403. (1967) |
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