Euphorbia terracina |
Euphorbia stictospora |
|
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carnation spurge, Geraldton carnation weed, terracina spurge |
mat spurge, narrow-seed spurge, slimseed sandmat |
|
Habit | Herbs, perennial or biennial, with taproot. | Herbs, annual, with taproot. |
Stems | erect, unbranched or branched, 10–100 cm, glabrous. |
prostrate, often mat-forming, occasionally with ascending tips, 5–45 cm, densely and evenly pilose to lanate. |
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 or connate basally on one side of stem, entire or irregularly toothed or fringed, 0.5–1.2 mm, pilose to lanate; petiole 0.3–1.5 mm, pilose to lanate; blade usually oblong to oblong-obovate, occasionally nearly circular, 3–10(–15) × 2–5(–10) mm, base asymmetric, one side usually angled or rounded and other truncate-auriculate, margins minutely or conspicuously serrulate at least toward apex, apex usually broadly rounded to broadly acute, occasionally emarginate, abaxial surface often ± lighter green and without reddish spot, both surfaces sparsely to moderately pilose to lanate; 3-veined from base or venation obscure. |
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, 0.7–1 × 0.4–0.6 mm, moderately to densely pilose to lanate; glands 4, reddish, ± unequal, oblong, 0.1 × 0.1–0.3 mm; appendages white to strongly pinkish or reddish tinged, often unequal, sometimes 1 to all absent, 0–0.3 × 0–0.4 mm, 3-lobed or rudimentarily 1-lobed, distal margin crenate. |
Staminate flowers | 15–20. |
3–9. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 1–1.8 mm, 2-fid. |
ovary pilose to villous, hairs occasionally slightly appressed; styles 0.2–0.5 mm, unbranched or inconspicuously notched at tip. |
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, 1.6–2.3 × 1.4–1.5 mm, moderately to densely villous with hairs usually slightly appressed, pubescence often concentrated on proximal 1/2 or along lobes; columella 1.5–2 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. |
light to dark brown, usually mottled, sometimes with thin, white coating, often wearing away irregularly, narrowly oblong-ovoid to ellipsoid, 3–4-angled in cross section, 1–1.5 × 0.5–0.6 mm, with short, irregularly interrupted furrows, appearing partially and irregularly few-ridged. |
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 leaf nodes or in small, cymose clusters on congested, axillary branches; peduncle 0.7–2.5 mm. |
Euphorbia terracina |
Euphorbia stictospora |
|
Phenology | Flowering and fruiting spring–summer. | Flowering and fruiting midsummer–early fall. |
Habitat | Edges of cultivated fields and woodlands, roadsides, waste areas, pastures, coastal bluffs, dunes, riparian areas. | Open disturbed areas, rocky slopes. |
Elevation | 0–300 m. (0–1000 ft.) | 100–2100 m. (300–6900 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA; Europe [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Mexico, s Africa, Australia]
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AZ; CO; IA; KS; MO; ND; NE; NM; OK; SD; TX; WY; Mexico (Chihuahua, Durango, San Luis Potosí)
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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 stictospora has been recorded from New York, but this disjunct occurrence likely represents a waif or misidentification. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 310. | FNA vol. 12, p. 289. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Tithymalus terracinus | Chamaesyce stictospora |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. ed. 2, 1: 654. (1762) | Engelmann: in W. H. Emory, Rep. U.S. Mex. Bound. 2(1): 187. (1859) |
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