Euphorbia thymifolia |
Euphorbia ocellata |
|||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
gulf sandmat |
Contura Creek sandmat, Contura Creek spurge, valley spurge |
|||||
Habit | Herbs, annual or perennial, with taproot. | Herbs, annual, with taproot. | ||||
Stems | prostrate, mat-forming, 15–30 cm, strigose to strigose-tomentulose. |
prostrate, 10–35 cm, glabrous or pilose. |
||||
Leaves | opposite; stipules distinct or slightly connate at base, linear-subulate, entire or slightly parted, 0.9–1.2 mm, strigose-tomentulose; petiole 0.5–1 mm, sparsely strigose-tomentulose; blade broadly elliptic to narrowly oblong or ovate-lanceolate, 3–10 × 1.8–5 mm, base asymmetric, one side usually angled or rounded and the other truncate and expanded into small, rounded auricle, margins serrate (larger leaves) to serrulate (smaller leaves), apex blunt to acute, abaxial surface sparsely tomentulose to glabrate, adaxial surface glabrate; palmately veined at base, pinnate distally. |
opposite; stipules distinct, subulate, 0.5–1.6 mm, glabrous or pilose; petiole 0.3–2 mm, glabrous or pilose; blade ovate to deltate or falcate, 2.3–13 × 1.5–6 mm, base asymmetric, usually cordate, rarely rounded, margins occasionally reddish, entire, often revolute, apex acute to obtuse, occasionally mucronate, surfaces glabrous or pilose; midvein conspicuous, lateral veins frequently visible abaxially. |
||||
Involucre | broadly obconic, becoming distended and distorted by base of partially included capsule, 0.4–0.8 × 0.3–0.5 mm, strigose; glands 4, red, slightly concave, ± unequal, subcircular to broadly oval, 0.1–0.2 × 0.2–0.3 mm; appendages white to pink, usually unequal, occasionally ± equal at distal nodes, elongated toward sinus, sometimes rudimentary, 0.1–0.4 × 0.1–0.3 mm, distal margin entire or crenulate. |
campanulate, 1–2.5 × 1.3–2.4 mm, glabrous or pilose; glands 4, yellow becoming deep red, elliptic or oblong to orbiculate, 0.4–0.6 × 0.5–0.7 mm; appendages absent or whitish, orbiculate, 0.1–0.2 × 0.3–0.5 mm, distal margin entire. |
||||
Staminate flowers | 3–5. |
30–70. |
||||
Pistillate flowers | ovary densely strigose; styles 0.4–0.5 mm, 2-fid 1/2 length. |
ovary glabrous or pilose; styles 0.4–0.5 mm, 2-fid at apex. |
||||
Capsules | conic to truncate-ovoid, scarcely exserted from involucre, base often remaining inside involucre and splitting one side of it during maturation, 0.9–1.2 × 1–1.2 mm, sparsely to moderately strigose; columella 0.6–1 mm. |
subglobose to broadly ovoid, 1.4–2.7 × 1.9–3.1 mm, glabrous or pilose; columella 1.4–2 mm. |
||||
Seeds | white, tan underneath coat, ovoid to narrowly ovoid, sharply 4-angled in cross section, 0.8–0.9 × 0.4–0.6 mm, with 4 low transverse ridges often slightly extending into angles, not sulcate. |
whitish gray to black, ovoid to oblong, terete to bluntly subangled in cross section, 1.1–1.7 × 0.8–1.3 mm, rugose or smooth. |
||||
Cyathia | usually in small, cymose clusters on congested, axillary branches; peduncle (0–)0.1–0.3 mm. |
solitary at distal nodes; peduncle 0.9–2.2 mm. |
||||
Euphorbia thymifolia |
Euphorbia ocellata |
|||||
Phenology | Flowering and fruiting midsummer–early fall. | |||||
Habitat | Disturbed areas, often near salt water. | |||||
Elevation | 0–20 m. (0–100 ft.) | |||||
Distribution |
FL; LA; Mexico; South America; West Indies [Introduced in Asia, tropical Africa, Australia] |
AZ; CA; ID; NV; UT
|
||||
Discussion | Euphorbia thymifolia is a widespread tropical and subtropical weed. It is not certain where the species is native, but most likely it originated in the New World and then became widespread in the rest of the tropics. Euphorbia thymifolia is present in the flora area in southern Florida and coastal Louisiana, where it is likely adventive. Euphorbia thymifolia is generally similar to E. maculata but is characterized by its short pistillate pedicels and non-exserted capsules that remain largely enclosed by the involucre and by its unequal involucral gland appendages. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
||||
Key |
|
|||||
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 291. | FNA vol. 12, p. 279. | ||||
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | Chamaesyce thymifolia | Chamaesyce ocellata | ||||
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 454. (1753) | Durand & Hilgard: Pl. Heermann., 46. (1854) | ||||
Web links |