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Key to Euphorbia, Key E: subgenus Esula
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https://fsus.ncbg.unc.edu/main.php?pg=show-key.php&keyid=40087
3 Leaf margins serrulate, the teeth pointed; terminal pleiochasial branches (rays) usually 5 and conspicuously radiating from above; capsules 2.5-4 mm long; seeds 1.6-2.2 mm long [uncommon non-native of disturbed areas in e. US] | |
4 Plants perennial, with thickened woody taproots; stems villous (often densely so, especially on inflorescence branches); leaves to 25 mm wide; [non-native waif] | |
4 Plants annual, rarely biennial, with thin herbaceous to only partially woody taproots; stems glabrous (or occasionally pilose in E. platyphyllos); leaves to 11 mm wide; [natives and waifs]. | |
6 Seeds smooth or very obscurely reticulate, 1.7-2.5 mm long; cyathia with the involucre 1.2-1.5 mm long; involucral bracts typically red; dichasial bracts cordate-clasping | |
6 Seeds distinctly alveolate, 1.3-1.8 mm long; cyathia with the involucre 0.6-0.9 mm long; involucral bracts typically yellow; dichasial bracts rounded to subcordate | |
1 Principal stem leaves entire. | |
7 Stem leaves opposite, decussate (each succeeding pair turned by 90 degrees); [subgenus Esula, section Lathyris] | |
9 Stem leaves oblanceolate, oblong, obovate, elliptic, or spatulate, averaging 1-5× as long as wide. | |
12 Primary stem leaves (50-) 70-100 cm long; plants robust rhizomatous perennials to 100+ cm tall; ovaries verrucose; [primarily Appalachian; section Helioscopia] | |
11 Seeds pitted or tuberculate, 1.3-2.0 mm long. | |
13 Seeds with one side pitted, the other with longitudinal grooves; [section Tithymalus]. | |
15 Ovaries glabrous; horns (of the glands) slender, elongate, and usually divergent; seeds finely and evenly pitted or tuberculate; [section Tithymalus]. | |
16 Seeds finely pitted with numerous, evenly distributed, isodiametric pits. | |
18 Petioles 2-5 mm long; capsules subglobose, 2-2.5 mm long; seeds with scattered, deep and broad pits; [TX] | |
17 Dichasial bracts usually distinct, occasionally subconnate basally. | |
20 Biennial or occasionally annual herbs; petioles of lower stem leaves 5-10 mm long; leaf blades usually oblanceolate to obovate, rarely ovate, 3-10 mm wide (at least some blades more than 5 mm wide); capsules 2.5-3.2 mm long. | |
20 Annual herbs; petioles of lower stem leaves 0-2 mm long; leaf blades linear to oblanceolate, spatulate-cuneate, or slightly lanceolate, 0.5-5 mm wide; capsules 1.8-2.4 mm long. | |
21 Seeds white to gray, 1.4-1.7 × 1-1.6 mm, with pits scattered over entire surface. | |
22 Leaf blades oblanceolate, 3-5 mm wide; seeds ovoid, 1.6-1.7 × 1.4-1.6 mm; [granitic outcrops, GA]. | |
22 Leaf blades linear to slightly lanceolate or linear-oblanceolate, 0.5-2.5 mm wide; seeds ellipsoid, 1.4-1.7 × 1.0-1.3 mm; [sandy soils, TX Coastal Plain]. | |
23 Stems 6-13 cm tall; leaf blades linear to slightly lanceolate, apices acute; dichasial bracts broadly ovate-lanceolate, bases rounded; seeds 1.4-1.5 × 1-1.1 mm, the surfaces with irregular, not obviously concave depressions; [Jim Hogg, Kenedy counties, TX] |