Euphorbia vermiculata |
Euphorbia curtisii |
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hairy sandmat, wormseed sandmat, wormseed spurge |
Curtis' spurge, Sandhills spurge |
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Habit | Herbs, annual or short-lived perennial, with slender, fibrous taproot. | Herbs, perennial, with spreading rootstock. |
Stems | prostrate to ascending or erect, not mat forming, 10–35 cm, usually sparsely to moderately strigillose, pilose, or villous, rarely glabrate hairs sometimes in longitudinal lines. |
erect or ascending, branched, solitary or few, previous year's dead stems not persistent, 20–40 cm, usually glabrous, rarely strigose to sericeous at nodes. |
Leaves | opposite; stipules distinct or connate, triangular to narrowly triangular or laciniate into subulate to filiform divisions, 0.6–1.3 mm, glabrous or sparsely pilose; petiole 0.2–0.9 mm, glabrous, villous, or strigillose; blade ovate, oblong, or elliptic, often falcate, 5–18 × 3–9 mm, base asymmetric, one side rounded and other cordate, margins usually serrulate especially in distal 1/2, rarely nearly entire, apex acute or obtuse, surfaces not papillate, sparsely pilose, villous, or sericeous (especially near base), often glabrate (especially older leaves); 3–5-veined from base. |
alternate; stipules to 0.1 mm; petiole to (0–)1–2 mm, glabrous or strigose to sericeous; blade usually linear, occasionally elliptic, rarely ovate, proximal often greatly reduced and often scalelike, 10–30 × 1.5–6 mm, base cuneate, margins entire, occasionally sparsely ciliate, apex rounded or broadly acute, abaxial surface glabrous or sparsely strigose to sericeous, adaxial surface glabrous; venation obscure, only midvein conspicuous. |
Involucre | obconic, 0.7–1.1 × 0.5–0.8 mm, glabrous; glands (2–3)–4, red to reddish green, circular to oblong, 0.1 × 0.1–0.2 mm; appendages absent or white, turning pink with age, flabellate, oblong, circular, or forming narrow lunate border around margin of gland, 0.1–0.3 × 0.2–0.4 mm, distal margin entire or slightly lobed. |
campanulate, 1–1.2 × 1.3–1.5(–1.7) mm, glabrous or strigose to sericeous on distal 1/2; glands 5, green, reniform, 0.3 × 0.6 mm; appendages white, semicircular, 0.3–0.4 × 0.6–0.8 mm, entire. |
Staminate flowers | 5–15. |
20–25. |
Pistillate flowers | ovary glabrous; styles 0.3–0.5 mm, 2-fid 1/2 length. |
ovary glabrous or sparsely strigose to sericeous; styles 0.6–1.1 mm, 2-fid at apex to 1/2 length. |
Capsules | oblate to subglobose, cocci not elongated nor terminating in empty portion, 1.4–1.8 × 1.7–2.1 mm, glabrous; columella 1.1–1.5 mm. |
globose, 2.5–3.2 × 4.3–5.1 mm, glabrous or sparsely strigose to sericeous; columella 2.4–3.1 mm. |
Seeds | brown, gray, or almost black, ovoid to oblong, 3–4-angled in cross section, 1.1–1.4 × 0.7–0.8 mm, rugulose and sometimes also with low transverse ridges that do not interrupt abaxial keel. |
usually gray to black, occasionally brown, ovoid-globose, 2.2 × 1.8 mm, smooth; caruncle absent. |
Cyathia | solitary at distal nodes or in small, cymose clusters at branch tips; peduncle 0.2–2.5 mm. |
in terminal pleiochasia (fertile axillary branches occasionally present); peduncle 6.5–17 mm, filiform, glabrous. |
Euphorbia vermiculata |
Euphorbia curtisii |
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Phenology | Flowering and fruiting spring–fall. | Flowering and fruiting early spring–summer. |
Habitat | Juniper-oak woodlands, temperate deciduous forests, grasslands, pine forests, oak forests with sycamores, walnuts and alders, often in disturbed areas. | Xeric to dry oak or oak-pine scrub of sand hills, pine-oak woodlands, pine-oak savannas. |
Elevation | 0–2600 m. (0–8500 ft.) | 0–200 m. (0–700 ft.) |
Distribution |
AZ; CT; IL; IN; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; NH; NJ; NM; NY; OH; PA; RI; VA; VT; WI; WV; NB; NS; ON; QC; Mexico; temperate deciduous forests; often in disturbed areas; walnuts and alders; oak forests with sycamores; pine forests; grasslands; Juniper-oak woodlands
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FL; GA; NC; SC
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Discussion | Euphorbia vermiculata has an interesting disjunct distribution; it ranges from central Mexico to Arizona and New Mexico, and is also present in the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Euphorbia curtisii is found in the Gulf and Atlantic coastal plains. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 292. | FNA vol. 12, p. 245. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Anisophyllum | Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia > sect. Alectoroctonum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Chamaesyce rothrockii, C. vermiculata, E. rothrockii | E. eriogonoides, Tithymalopsis curtisii, T. eriogonoides |
Name authority | Rafinesque: Amer. Monthly Mag. & Crit. Rev. 2: 206. (1818) | Engelmann ex Chapman: Fl. South. U.S., 401. (1860) |
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