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| MaltaWildPlants.com by Stephen Mifsud |
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Euphorbia hypericifolia (Graceful spurge) |
Euphorbia hypericifolia (EUPHORBIACEAE.)
Images for this profile are taken from the Maltese Islands after year 2000. |
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| Nomenclature and Basic Information |
Species name : |
Euphorbia hypericifoliaL.
Published in Sp. Pl. : 454 (1753) |
Synonyms :
(basionym or principal syn.) |
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Plant Family : |
Euphorbiaceae
Juss. (The Spurge Family)
30 species from the Euphorbiaceae family are recorded from the Maltese Islands. | English name(s) : | Graceful spurge, Golden spurge |
Maltese name(s) : |
Tengħud arbuxxel |
Status for Malta : |
Naturalised Alien. Species that was introduced in Malta after year 1492 (Columbus' discovery of the New World)
and spreads and integrates to form established, non-invasive populations.
Species may become become invasive if it widespreads rapidly. |
Frequency : |
Very Common Common Frequent Scarce Rare Very rare Extinct |
Growth form : |
Raunkiaer lifeform [info]: Nano-Phanerophyte ( small trees to large shrubs, usually <5 m )
Germination [info]: Dicotyledon |
Legal Protection : |
Not legally protected till the last update of this website (2/Mar/2022) |
Red List (1989) : |
Not listed in the Red Data Book of the Maltese Islands |
Flowering Time : |
December – June |
Colour of Flowers: |
Inconspicuous, White or Pink |
Toxicity: |
May cause allergic reactions or irritation in contact with the skin or mucous membranes |
Name Derivation : |
Euphorbia: Named for Euphorbus, a Greek physician to Juba II - King of Mauretania of Numibia (52-50 BC - 23 AD), who might have used a certain plant in allusion to his swollen belly, possibly the plant Euphorbia resinifera. (Further info: [link]). Euphorbus can have also been derived from 'Eu-' = good or true and '-phorbe' = pasture or fodder, thus giving the meaning well-fed or provides a fat-belly from consumption. (Greek origin )
hypericifolia:
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Planting in rural areas : |
Can be planted in rural areas according to ERA Guidelines |
Remarks : |
In the past this species have been misidentified with the closely related E. nutans having the same habit and leaves, but details in the fruit and stipules. See local paper in the literature section of this profile [ click here ] |
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Description, Habitat and Distribution | |
Habitat in Europe: |
Data will be available in the next update of this website. | |
Preferred habitat in Malta: |
Readily escapes in soil close to cultivation and may invade into natural habitats. | |
Botanical Description: |
Herbs, annual, with taproot. Stems erect to ascending, 15–50 cm, glabrous. Leaves opposite; stipules connate, deltate, usually entire, sometimes laciniate-fringed at tip, 1.5–2.2 mm, glabrous; petiole 1–3 mm, glabrous; blade obliquely oblong-oblanceolate, 10–35 × 7–15 mm, base asymmetric, oblique, margins serrate or serrulate, especially toward apex, apex broadly acute, surfaces glabrous; palmately veined at base, pinnate distally. Cyathia in dense, axillary and terminal, capitate glomerules with reduced, bractlike leaves subtending cyathia; peduncle 0.5–1.8 mm. Involucre obconic, 0.9–1.1 × 0.4–0.9 mm, glabrous; glands 4, yellow-green to brown, stipitate, subcircular, 0.2 × 0.2 mm, occasionally nearly rudimentary; appendages absent on smaller glands or white to pink, shape highly variable, usually round to ± elliptic, 0.3–0.4 × 0.5–0.7 mm, distal margin entire. Staminate flowers (0–)2–20. Pistillate flowers: ovary glabrous; styles 0.4 mm, 2-fid 1/2 length. Capsules depressed-globoid, 1.3–1.4 × 1.1–1.5 mm, glabrous; columella 1–1.1 mm. Seeds with very thin whitish mucilaginous coat over light brown testa below, ovoid-triangular, bluntly 4-angled in cross section, 0.9–1.1 × 0.5 mm, with shallow irregular depressions alternating with low, smooth ridges. | |
Native region outside Europe: |
Tropical Americas (Southern parts of US, Central America and parts of south America) |
Distributional map in Europe
and the Mediterranean region (2018): |
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Occurrences in Europe and the Mediterranean region.
(from Euro+Med Checklist, 2019)
Country codes
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" [AE(G)]" |
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Atlas Flora Europaea
GBIF Distribution map
