Florida Pineland Spurge

Description

Euphorbia inundata Torrey ex Chapman, Fl. South. U.S. 402. 1860. Herbs, perennial, with thickened rootstock. Stems erect or ascending, 15-40 cm. Leaves: petiole absent or indistinct, blade linear to linear-elliptic or lanceolate, (25-)30-60(-115) - 1.5-14(-15) mm, chartaceous, base attenuate, apex acuminate, acute, or rounded and mucronate; only midvein evident. Cyathial arrangement: terminal pleiochasial branches 2-3, 5-18 cm, 3-8 times 2-branched; pleiochasial bracts linear-lanceolate or narrowly ovate, 25-49 - 5-9 mm, margins entire, apex acute or acuminate; dichasial bracts ovate or lanceolate, 6-21 - 2-6 mm, margins entire, apex acute or acuminate; axillary cymose branches 1-5. Cyathia: peduncle 6-24 mm (often exceeding dichasial bracts). Involucre obconic or campanulate, 1.3-3.2 - 1.6-3.6 mm, lobes ovate, oblong, or nearly rectangular, 0.6-1 mm, laciniate-ciliate; glands red to greenish, oblong or nearly circular, 0.8-1 - 1.1-2 mm, distal margins crenulate-erose, undulate, or entire. Staminate flowers 20-25. Pistillate flowers: gynophore exserted 2.6-6.1 mm, calyxlike lobes triangular to subulate, 0.6-1.4 mm; styles connate 1/8 length, 1.3-2.2 mm. Capsules oblate-ovoid, 5.1-6.1 - 6.9-8.6 mm, 3-lobed; columella 3.9-4.7 mm. Seeds brown to blackish, ovoid-globose, circular or faintly 3- or 4-angled in cross section, 2.9-3.4 - 2.7-3 mm, smooth, base flattened or rounded, apex rounded or with inconspicuous blunt point. Varieties 2 (2 in the flora): se United States. Euphorbia inundata has a disjunct distribution in the southeastern United States. Allopatric, narrow-leaved populations from the west-central Florida peninsula are segregated as var. garrettii (E. L. Bridges and S. L. Orzell 2002).