Euphorbia terracina |
Euphorbia purpurea |
|
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carnation spurge, Geraldton carnation weed, terracina spurge |
Darlington's glade spurge, glade or Darlington's glade spurge |
|
Habit | Herbs, perennial or biennial, with taproot. | Herbs, perennial, with thick rootstock. |
Stems | erect, unbranched or branched, 10–100 cm, glabrous. |
erect, unbranched, 70–100(–130) 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. |
petiole 0–2 mm; blade lance-oblong to oblanceolate-oblong, 50–100 × 13–30 mm, base attenuate to cuneate, margins entire, apex usually acute, sometimes obtuse to rounded, minutely apiculate, abaxial surface glabrate to sparsely pilose, adaxial surface glabrous; venation 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. |
narrowly campanulate, 2.1–3 × 3–4.2 mm, glabrous; glands 5, elliptic to slightly reniform, 1–1.2 × 1.5–2.1 mm; horns absent. |
Staminate flowers | 15–20. |
10–15. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 1–1.8 mm, 2-fid. |
ovary glabrous; styles 3–3.5 mm, 2-fid. |
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. |
globose, 4.5–5.2 × 6–6.8 mm, 3-lobed; cocci rounded, verrucose, sometimes minutely so, glabrous; columella 4–4.8 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. |
mottled silver-brown, ovoid-globose, 3–4 × 2.5–3.5 mm, smooth; caruncle subconic, reniform, 0.8–1.1 × 1.4–1.6 mm. |
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 pleiochasial branches 3–6, each unbranched or 1–2 times 2-branched, occasionally appearing pendent; pleiochasial bracts lance-ovate, shorter than distal leaves; dichasial bracts distinct, cordate-deltate to reniform, base subcordate, margins entire, apex rounded; axillary cymose branches 0–10. |
Cyathia | peduncle 1–3 mm. |
peduncle 0–1 mm. |
Euphorbia terracina |
Euphorbia purpurea |
|
Phenology | Flowering and fruiting spring–summer. | Flowering and fruiting spring–fall. |
Habitat | Edges of cultivated fields and woodlands, roadsides, waste areas, pastures, coastal bluffs, dunes, riparian areas. | Dry to moist forests and slopes, rock outcrops, swamps or seeps, especially over calcareous rocks. |
Elevation | 0–300 m. (0–1000 ft.) | 50–1100 m. (200–3600 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA; Europe [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Mexico, s Africa, Australia]
|
DE; MD; NC; NJ; OH; PA; VA; WV |
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 purpurea is primarily an eastern Appalachian forest species, but it also occurs in Adams, Highland, and Pike counties in southern Ohio. It is listed as endangered by Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, and is in the Center for Plant Conservation's National Collection of Endangered Plants. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 310. | FNA vol. 12, p. 308. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Tithymalus terracinus | Agaloma purpurea, Galarhoeus darlingtonii |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. ed. 2, 1: 654. (1762) | (Rafinesque) Fernald: Rhodora 34: 25. (1932) |
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