Euphorbia terracina |
Euphorbia rayturneri |
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carnation spurge, Geraldton carnation weed, terracina spurge |
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Habit | Herbs, perennial or biennial, with taproot. | Herbs, annual, with slender taproot. |
Stems | erect, unbranched or branched, 10–100 cm, glabrous. |
prostrate, 4–8 cm, uniformly strigillose. |
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, 0.6–0.9 mm, pilose; petiole 0.5–0.9 mm, strigillose; blade ovate to elliptic, often slightly falcate, 5–11 × 2–5 mm, base asymmetric, one side cordate, other round to attenuate, margins sharply serrulate, apex acute, surfaces often with red spot toward middle, abaxial surface strigillose, adaxial surface glabrescent; 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, 0.9–1.2 × 0.8–1.2 mm, strigillose; glands 4, green, yellow, or light pink, circular to oblong, 0.2 × 0.2–0.3 mm; appendages absent or green, yellow, or light pink, forming narrow margin on distal portion of gland, 0–0.1 × 0.2–0.3 mm, distal margin entire. |
Staminate flowers | 15–20. |
5–8. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 1–1.8 mm, 2-fid. |
ovary strigillose-canescent; styles 0.3–0.4 mm, unbranched. |
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. |
oblate, 1.7–2 × 2.2–2.7 mm, strigillose; columella 1.5–1.9 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. |
blackish brown, broadly ovoid, 3-angled in cross section, 1.2–1.4 × 1–1.1 mm, with 2 well-defined transverse ridges that do not pass through abaxial keel. |
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 0.5–1.6 mm. |
2n | = 14. |
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Euphorbia terracina |
Euphorbia rayturneri |
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Phenology | Flowering and fruiting spring–summer. | Flowering and fruiting late summer–early fall. |
Habitat | Edges of cultivated fields and woodlands, roadsides, waste areas, pastures, coastal bluffs, dunes, riparian areas. | Desert grasslands. |
Elevation | 0–300 m. (0–1000 ft.) | 1400–1700 m. (4600–5600 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA; Europe [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Mexico, s Africa, Australia]
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NM |
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 rayturneri is known from only three collections in extreme southwestern New Mexico. Given its close proximity to the Mexican border, the species may also occur in the adjacent states of Chihuahua or Sonora. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 310. | FNA vol. 12, p. 286. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Tithymalus terracinus | |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. ed. 2, 1: 654. (1762) | V. W. Steinmann & Jercinovic: Novon 22: 482, figs. 1, 2. (2013) |
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