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Electronic Flora of South Australia species Fact Sheet

Family: Euphorbiaceae
Euphorbia cyparissias

Citation: L., Sp. Pl. 461 (1753).

Synonymy: Not Applicable

Common name: Cypress spurge.

Description:
Glabrous perennial, rhizomatous, usually branched at the base but up to 15 axillary non-flowering branches distally and to 7 axillary rays on these which are each once or twice dichotomous and terminal raylets in the umbels 5-20 each once or twice dichotomous; cauline leaves linear, 5-40 x 0.5-3 mm, obtuse, narrowing to the base; leaves on non-flowering branches usually shorter, narrower, with more or less recurved margins; ray-leaves linear to oblong, often whorled at the base of raylets; raylet-leaves reniform, rhombic or suborbicular, 3-10 mm, sometimes more, long and wide, sometimes reddish.

cyathia on peduncles to 1 mm long, solitary in forks or 3 terminal; involucre campanulate, c. 1.5 mm long; glands lunate, c. 1 mm long, yellow, attenuated into 2 horn-like appendages; styles erect, to 1 mm long, cleft for one-quarter of their length, capitulate.

capsule subglobose, 3-lobed, c. 3 x 3.5 mm, deeply grooved and granulate on the back; seed ovoid, 1.7-2 x 1.3-1.5 mm, with a ventral groove, smooth, shiny, grey or olive-brown; caruncle nearly sessile, depressed-conical, c. 0.7 mm across, drying brown.

image of FSA2_Euphorbia_cyp.jpg Euphorbia cyparissias twig, cyathium, fruit and seed.
Image source: fig 401c in Jessop J.P. & Toelken H.R. (Ed.) 1986. Flora of South Australia (4th edn).

Published illustration: Fiori & Paoletti (1901) Iconographia florae Italicae, fig. 2613; Hegi (1924) Illustrierte Flora von Mittel-Europa 5, 1:t. 177, figs 3 & 1776-1778; Keble Martin (1965) The concise British flora in colour, t. 75; Ross-Craig (1969) Drawings Brit. Pl. 26:t. 44.

Distribution:  S.Aust.: SL.   Widespread from Europe to Asia and North America.

Conservation status: naturalised

Flowering time: spring.


SA Distribution Map based
on current data relating to
specimens held in the
State Herbarium of South Australia

Biology: No text

Author: Not yet available


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