Euphorbia polycarpa

Wiggins 1964, Felger 2000, Kearney and Peebles 1969

Duration: Perennial Nativity: Native Lifeform: Forb/Herb General: Prostrate or erect perennial herb from slender woody taproot, herbage and capsules glabrous or hairy; much branched to 25 cm tall. Leaves: Orbicular to lance-oblong, oblique at base, 1-10 mm long petioles 1-2 mm long; stipules deltoid, .3-.5 mm long, ventral ones united, usually ciliate-margined. Flowers: Involucres campanulate, 1-1.5 mm wide, lobes narrowly to attenuately deltoid, about equaling the narrow, transversely oblong glands, dark maroon, latter .5-.7 mm long, conspicuous appendages present, white to reddish, equaling or slightly exceeding glands, entire to crentate; bracteoles opposite each gland; staminate flowers 15-32 in each cyathium. Fruits: Seeds .8-1 mm, fairly smooth but dull. Ecology: Found on desert slopes and washes from 500-3,000 ft (152-914 m); flowers year round. Distribution: AZ, CA, NV; south to MEX. Notes: Stems markedly zig-zag. Ethnobotany: Poultice of the plant is applied to scorpion and snake bites, roots chewed to promote vomit and loosen bowels for stomach trouble. Etymology: Euphorbia is named for Euphorbus, Greek physician of Juba II, King of Mauretania, polycarpa means having many seeds or fruit. Synonyms: Chamaesyce polycarpa var. hirtella, Euphorbia polycarpa, Euphorbia polycarpa var. hirtella Editor: SBuckley, 2010

Plant: Perennial; stem prostrate to ascending, glabrous to hairy; sap milky Leaves: cauline, opposite, short-petioled, 1-10 mm; stipules separate, triangular; blade round to ovate, glabrous to hairy, tip acute to obtuse, margin entire INFLORESCENCE: flower-like, generally 1 per node; involucre 1-1.5 mm, bell-shaped, glabrous to hairy; gland < 1 mm, oblong, appendage wider to narrower than gland, entire to scalloped, white to red Flowers: Staminate flowers 15-32, generally in 5 clusters around pistillate flower, each flower a stamen; Pistillate flower: 1, central, stalked; ovary chambers 3, ovule 1 per chamber, styles 3, divided > 1/2 length Fruit: capsule, 1-1.5 mm, spheric, lobed, glabrous to hairy; Seed 1-1.5 mm, ovoid, smooth, white to light brown Misc: Dry, sandy slopes and flats; < 1000 m.; Most of year Notes: Flowers borne in a cyanthia; 15-30 staminate and one pistallate. 4 petolid appendages, white with large pink or red glands.Seeds quadrangular in shape and whitish. Leaves can be reddish. References: Kearney & Peebles; Arizona Flora. ASU specimans