Euphorbia terracina |
Euphorbia porteriana |
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carnation spurge, Geraldton carnation weed, terracina spurge |
Porter's sandmat |
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Habit | Herbs, perennial or biennial, with taproot. | Herbs, usually annual, sometimes perennial, with slender to occasionally thickened taproot, 5 mm diam.. |
Stems | erect, unbranched or branched, 10–100 cm, glabrous. |
erect to ascending, sometimes slightly woody at base, not mat-forming, 15–60 cm, usually glabrous, young branches rarely very sparsely short pubescent. |
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 usually distinct, occasionally connate basally, triangular, entire or 2–4 parted, apically ciliate, 0.3–0.4 mm, usually glabrous, rarely very sparsely short pubescent; petiole 0.5–1.5 mm, usually glabrous, rarely very sparsely short pubescent; blade ovate, oval, elliptic, oblong-elliptic, or linear-elliptic, 4–12 × 1–7 mm, base asymmetric, rounded or subcordate, margins usually entire, rarely sparsely serrate, apex obtuse to acute, sometimes mucronate, surfaces abaxially often purple or red, adaxially green, usually glabrous, rarely very sparsely short pubescent; 3-veined from base, 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. |
turbinate to campanulate, 0.7–1 × 0.8–1 mm, usually glabrous, rarely very sparsely short pubescent; glands 4, brown, slightly concave, elliptic-oblong, 0.1–0.2 × 0.3–0.6 mm; appendages white or pink to dark red, usually oblong or flabellate, occasionally rudimentary and forming narrow rim at edge of gland, (0–)0.1–0.2 × 0.4–1 mm, distal margin entire or crenulate. |
Staminate flowers | 15–20. |
8–14. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 1–1.8 mm, 2-fid. |
ovary glabrous, subtended by triangular calyxlike structure; styles 0.4–0.6 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. |
broadly ovoid, 1–1.5 × 1.7–2.1 mm, glabrous; columella 1–1.4 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. |
reddish brown, ovoid, 4-angled in cross section, 0.7–1 × 0.6–0.7 mm, smooth or obscurely wrinkled. |
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 0.5–1.1 mm. |
Euphorbia terracina |
Euphorbia porteriana |
|
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. | Pine rocklands, coastal scrub, open hammocks. |
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]
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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 porteriana is found in Miami-Dade County and on Big Pine Key, Monroe County. This species is closely related to E. blodgettii, E. garberi, and E. serpens. The capsules of E. porteriana are almost always completely glabrous, but the authors have seen three specimens with just a few scattered hairs on the keels. A. Herndon (1993) synonymized E. porteriana var. keyensis under E. garberi because of its uniformly hairy capsules, and that treatment is followed here. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 310. | FNA vol. 12, p. 285. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Tithymalus terracinus | Chamaesyce porteriana, C. porteriana var. scoparia, C. scoparia |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. ed. 2, 1: 654. (1762) | (Small) Oudejans: Phytologia 67: 48. (1989) |
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