Sanddune Sandmat

Euphorbia carunculata

Description 2

Plants prostrate annuals; glabrous; very large robust plants, often well over 30 cm across in specimens. Roots slender, about the diameter of the base of stem. Largest internodes 2 to 4 mm in diameter. Stipules divided. Leaves large, most leaves over 1 cm long and up to 2.5 cm long; leaves oval; margins entire. Cyathia over 2 mm across. Appendages present but mostly inconspicuous. Fruits often over 5 mm long. Seeds often over 4 mm long, smooth and grey. This species has the largest cyathia, fruits, and seeds of the species covered here. Leaves are generally around the same length of E. hyssopifolia but wider.

Habitat and Distribution 2

Mostly off the Llano along the western edge (Turner et. al., 2003; SRSC) in deep sand dune habitat. Specimens of this plant have been collected from the southwest corner of Andrews Co. (SRSC) where the edge is poorly defined (thus, its inclusion here), but there are no reports of it further on top of the Llano.

Comments 2

It would be difficult to identify this plant as anything else based only on its size. Even small plants have leaves larger than most species and fruits larger than any other species in Texas or New Mexico.

Sources and Credits

  1. (c) Nathan Taylor, all rights reserved, uploaded by Nathan Taylor
  2. (c) Nathan Taylor, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)

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