Section Nummulariopsis

Section Nummulariopsis represents a small group of erect herbaceous plants in the Southeastern US that appear superficially similar to the narrow-leafed species in sect. Alectoroctonum or like a small, linear-leafed species of subg. Esula. The group is more diverse in South America and is generally separated by the presence of calyx lobes at the base of the ovaries/fruits. This characteristic is difficult to use in the US species, and it is generally easier to compare these species to the members of sect. Alectoroctonum of the eastern United States (click here to see the guide to those species). Section Nummulariopsis belongs to subgenus Euphorbia, which is primarily an Old World subgenus. There are five taxa of sect. Nummulariopsis in the United States. Out of these, three are restricted to Florida.

Euphorbia inundata var. inundata
Differs from var. garrettii by its geography and broader leaves. iNaturalist observations.

Photo credit: Lillie

Euphorbia inundata var. garrettii
Differs from var. inundata by its geography and narrower leaves. Restricted to the west-central part of the Florida peninsula. Photos and additional information can be found at Atlas of Florida Plants.

Photo credit: Edwin Bridges

Euphorbia floridana
Leaves narrow like E. inundata. Differs from E. inundata by its errose gland edges, shorter pedicels, and seed characteristics. iNaturalist observations.

Photo credit: Andy Newman (left), Alvin Diamond (right).

Euphorbia rosescens
With E. telephioides, characterized by broad leaves less than 6 times their width. It differs from E. telephioides by its larger cyathia and geography. According to FNA, "...a narrow-endemic, gap-specialist known only from the southern portion of the Lake Wales Ridge in Highlands County." Photos and additional information can be found at Atlas of Florida Plants. Also see a picture of the the Holotype, which have leaves that strongly resemble E. inundata.

Photo credit: Edwin Bridges

Euphorbia telephioides
With E. rosescens, characterized by broad leaves less than 6 times their width. It differs from E. rosescens by its smaller cyathia and geography. According to FNA, "...known only from Bay, Franklin, and Gulf counties in the Apalachicola region of the east-central Florida panhandle." Photos and additional information can be found at Atlas of Florida Plants.

Photo credit: Edwin Bridges (Observation 1; observation 2)

Sources:
Euphorbia (Euphorbiaceae) Section Tithymalus Subsection Inundatae in the Southeastern United States
Flora of North America
Atlas of Florida Plants

Posted on June 7, 2018 10:16 PM by nathantaylor nathantaylor

Comments

Trip to Florida? Ok! :)

Posted by sambiology almost 6 years ago

It definitely has a lot of neat Euphorbias. :)

Posted by nathantaylor almost 6 years ago

Moving there soon!

Posted by jaykeller almost 6 years ago

@jaykeller Note the new additions (Edwin Bridges described E. rosescens and E. inundata var. garrettii). I'm really encouraged by the Euphorbia experts that have come on to iNaturalist this year.

Posted by nathantaylor about 5 years ago

2018 was the year of the spurges! ;)
2019 will fill in all of the gaps.

Posted by sambiology about 5 years ago

Here is a link to download my taxonomic paper on this group of Euphorbia:

http://www.bioone.org/doi/pdf/10.25224/1097-993X-5.1.59

Posted by edwinbridges about 5 years ago

That's a plan of mine @sambiology! It looks like I will end the year with 62 species on calendar 2018 (67+ taxa), and I have a number of species still yet to find in Florida, not to mention other locations. I'll probably summarize things in a journal post in the coming days. It has been fun!

Posted by jaykeller about 5 years ago

Thanks for the link @edwinbridges !

Posted by nathantaylor about 5 years ago

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