Family |
Euphorbiaceae
Euphorbia microsphaera
Boiss.
Euphorbia microsphaera Boiss.
(First published in Diagn. Pl. Orient. 7: 87 (1846); Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, Pl. CCIV nº 2; 1970) (Plants of the World Online)
• Life-form & habit : Annual herb, almost glabrous; stem erect, sometimes slightly branched at the base, 20–50 cm tall.
• Leaves : Leaves serrate toward the apex; lower leaves oblong-obtuse, with a scarcely distinct petiole; upper leaves sessile and acute. Floral leaves ovate to orbicular-triangular, obtuse, green like the cauline leaves.
• Inflorescence & flowers : Umbel with 5 rays, first trifid then bifid; cyathia turbinate, hairy inside and outside, with fimbriate lobes.
• Fruit : Capsule stipitate, globose, not furrowed between the cocci, 2–3 mm; seed ovate, slightly compressed; caruncle flat and very small.
• Phenology : Flowers from May to June.
• Habitat & elevation : Cultivated ground and stream banks.
• Lebanese distribution : Recorded by Mouterde from Deir Zenoun toward the Zaïr, the banks of the Bardaouni near Haouch, Ta'naïl and ‘Ammiq.
• Native range : Iran, Iraq, Kriti, Lebanon-Syria, Mongolia, Palestine, Tadzhikistan, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Uzbekistan, Xinjiang.
• Introduced range : Türkiye-in-Europe.
• Diagnostic remarks : Recognizable among the Lebanese and Syrian annual Euphorbia species by its almost glabrous erect habit, green obtuse floral leaves, 5-rayed umbel, hairy turbinate cyathia, stipitate globose capsule lacking furrows between the cocci, and very small flat caruncle. It differs from Euphorbia cybirensis, treated immediately after it by Mouterde, by its smooth, non-spiny capsule and green, obtuse floral leaves; E. cybirensis has yellow, mucronate floral leaves and a capsule covered with spinose tubercles ending in bristles.