Flora-Fauna

Euphorbia peplus L.

(First published in Sp. Pl.: 456 (1753); Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, Pl. CCVII nº 5; 1970) (Plants of the World Online)

• Life-form & habit : Small annual herb, 10–30 cm tall, glabrous, branched, usually erect to ascending, often growing as a ruderal or segetal weed.

• Leaves : Leaves thin, entire, obovate, obtuse or retuse at the apex, attenuate into a petiole; floral leaves sessile, ovate and oblique.

• Inflorescence & flowers : Umbel with 3 rays, repeatedly bifid; cyathia turbinate, with ovate, fimbriate lobes; glands with very long horns; styles short, deeply bifid.

• Fruit : Capsule shortly ovate, deeply marked by 3 furrows, the cocci winged and bicarinate on the back; seeds white, ovate, subhexagonal, with a longitudinal furrow on two faces and 3–4 aligned pits on the others; caruncle depressed-conical.

• Phenology : Flowers from December to July.

• Habitat & elevation : Very abundant segetal-ruderal species, especially in cultivated and disturbed places; Mouterde notes that it is apparently ubiquitous, at least near human habitations.

• Lebanese distribution : Recorded by Mouterde from Saïda, between Tripoli and Beyrouth, Nahr-el-Aouali, Beyrouth, Zouq Mikhaël, Fidar, Tripoli, Harissa, ‘Abey, Mkallès, Bchéla, Qannoubine and Zahlé.

• Native range : Albania, Algeria, Austria, Baleares, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Corse, Czechia-Slovakia, East Aegean Is., East European Russia, Egypt, Eritrea, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Gulf States, Hungary, Iceland, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Kriti, Lebanon-Syria, Libya, Morocco, Netherlands, North Caucasus, Northwest European Russia, Norway, NW. Balkan Pen., Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sardegna, Saudi Arabia, Sicilia, Sinai, Somalia, South European Russia, Spain, Sudan-South Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Transcaucasus, Tunisia, Türkiye, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine, West Himalaya, Yemen.

• Introduced range : Alabama, Alberta, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Argentina South, Arizona, Ascension, Assam, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, British Columbia, California, Chatham Is., Chile Central, Chile North, China South-Central, China Southeast, Colombia, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Denmark, Easter Is., Ecuador, Free State, Føroyar, Great Britain, Gulf of Guinea Is., Haiti, Hawaii, Honduras, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Ireland, Jamaica, Japan, Juan Fernández Is., Kentucky, Kermadec Is., Louisiana, Madeira, Maine, Manitoba, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Brunswick, New Caledonia, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, New Zealand North, New Zealand South, Newfoundland, Norfolk Is., North Carolina, North Dakota, Nova Scotia, Ohio, Ontario, Oregon, Paraguay, Pennsylvania, Peru, Pitcairn Is., Prince Edward I., Québec, Rhode I., Saskatchewan, St.Helena, Taiwan, Tasmania, Tennessee, Texas, Tristan da Cunha, Tuamotu, Utah, Venezuela, Venezuelan Antilles, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Siberia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

• Diagnostic remarks : Distinguished from Euphorbia peploides by its larger size, 10–30 cm rather than 5–10 cm, obovate rather than suborbicular leaves, very long gland horns, and larger seeds; E. peploides has smaller seeds with only 2–3 pits on the external faces. It differs from E. chamaepeplus by its winged, bicarinate capsule cocci; in E. chamaepeplus the capsule cocci are not winged.