Euphorbia terracina |
Euphorbia wrightii |
|
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carnation spurge, Geraldton carnation weed, terracina spurge |
Wright's spurge |
|
Habit | Herbs, perennial or biennial, with taproot. | Herbs, perennial with cylindric rootstock or elongated tubers. |
Stems | erect, unbranched or branched, 10–100 cm, glabrous. |
erect, branched, densely clumped, previous year’s dead stems often persistent, 20–50 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. |
alternate, persisting, spreading or ascending; stipules 0.1–0.3 mm; petiole absent; blade linear to linear-filiform, (17–)20–40 × 1–2.5 mm, base cuneate, slightly sheathing stem, margins entire, apex broadly acute to rounded, abaxial surface glabrous or sparsely villous, adaxial surface glabrous; venation obscure, only midvein conspicuous on wider leaves. |
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, 1.5–2 × 1.8–2.5 mm, pilose; glands 5, green, broadly elliptic, 0.7–0.8 × 1 mm; appendages white to pink, orbiculate, 0.5–1 × 1.3–1.8 mm, coarsely erose. |
Staminate flowers | 15–20. |
20–25. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 1–1.8 mm, 2-fid. |
ovary strigose to tomentose; styles 1 mm, 2-fid at apex. |
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. |
depressed-globose, 1 locule usually aborting, 2.5(–3) × 2.7–3.3(–5) mm, sparsely tomentose; columella 2.6–3 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. |
gray-green to gray-brown, globose-ovoid, 2.2–2.9 × 1.8–2 mm, shallowly and obscurely pitted; 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. |
|
Cyathia | peduncle 1–3 mm. |
usually in terminal dichasia, rarely pleiochasia; peduncle (3–)5–15 mm, all peduncles and cyathia persistent on plant, glabrous. |
Euphorbia terracina |
Euphorbia wrightii |
|
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. | Open grasslands and uplands, often on limestone outcrops. |
Elevation | 0–300 m. (0–1000 ft.) | 500–1000 m. (1600–3300 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA; Europe [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Mexico, s Africa, Australia]
|
TX; Mexico (Coahuila) |
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.) |
Within the flora area, Euphorbia wrightii is endemic to the western Edwards Plateau and adjacent rolling plains in western Texas. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 310. | FNA vol. 12, p. 251. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > subg. Esula | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Alectoroctonum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Tithymalus terracinus | |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. ed. 2, 1: 654. (1762) | Torrey & A. Gray: in War Department [U.S.], Pacif. Railr. Rep. 2(4): 174. (1857) |
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