e-Flora of Thailand

Volume 8 > Part 1 > Year 2005 > Page 279 > Euphorbiaceae > Euphorbia

11. Euphorbia parviflora L.wfo-0000963844

Syst. Nat. ed. 10: 1047. 1759, nom.cons.prop., Burm.f., Fl. Ind.: 112. 1768; Boiss. in DC., Prodr. 15(2): 20. 1862; Hook.f., Fl. Brit. Ind. 5: 250. 1887; Thell, in Asch. & Gräbner, Syn. Mitteleur. Fl. 7(92): 436. 1917; Gagnep. in Lecomte, Fl. Indo-Chine 5: 247. 1925; Raju & Rao, Indian J. Bot. 2: 204. 1979; Esser & Chayamarit, Harvard Papers Bot. 6: 263. 2001.— E. hypericifolia var. parviflora (L.) Prain, Bengal Pl. 2: 924. 1903.— Chamaesyce parviflora (L.) Soják, Cas. Nár. Mus., Odd. Prír. 140: 169. 1972.


Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.



Synonyms & Citations :

Euphorbia pilulifera L., Sp. Pl.: 454. 1753, p.p. quoad lectotype, nom. rejic.; L.C. Wheeler, Contr. Gray Herb. 127: 78. 1939; Esser & Cafferty, Taxon 50: 925. 2001.— Chamaesyce pilulifera (L.) Small, Fl. SE. U.S.: 708. 1903.
Euphorbia papilligera Boiss., Cent. Euph.: 8. 1860.
Euphorbia hypericifolia auct. non L.: Hook.f., Fl. Brit. Ind. 5: 249. 1887, p.p.; Backer & Bakh.f., Fl. Java 1: 501. 1964, p.p.; Radcl.-Sm., Kew. Bull. 26: 265. 1972: ?J.S.Ma, Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 44(3): 41. 1997.
Euphorbia indica auct. non Lam.: ?Gagnep. in Lecomte, Fl. Indo-Chine 5: 248. 1925; ?P.H.Hô, Câyco Viêtnam 2, 1: 361, pl. 4673. 1992.


Description : Herb, up to 65 cm high, erect or not hardly branched, with ultimate branches not notably thin, green to reddish-brown. Indumentum consisting of pale hairs, 0.2–1.2 mm long, weakly erect to loosely appressed, distinct to scattered on vegetative parts, short (ca 0.2 mm) on the stems, usually longer on leaves. Stipules not united, 0.2–0.8 mm long, broadly triangular. Leaves: petioles 1.5–2 mm long; opposite, usually distant, glabrous to pubescent; blades ovate-elliptic to obovate-elliptic, the largest 13–28 by 6–13 mm and hardly diminishing in size distally, base very oblique with one side cordate, the other obtuse to acute, margin subentire to distinctly serrate, apex rounded to mucronate, glabrous above, usually with scattered hairs below; brighter but not whitish below, triplinerved, with 5–7 pairs of veins. Cyathia always grouped to 5–30 in loosely clustered, axillary dichasia, pedunculate and subtended by pairs of linear bracts 1–1.5 mm long, rarely on elongating peduncles, glabrous or with scattered hairs (ovaries always pubescent); involucre ca 1 mm long; glands ca 0.2 mm wide, pink, with large (ca 0.4 by 0.7 mm), transversely elliptic, entire and undivided appendages; ovary with short (ca 0.5 mm) peduncle, distinctly hairy; stigmas ca 0.4 mm long, at least for half of their length, often nearly completely bifid. Fruits with a pedicel of 0.5–0.8 mm; schizocarp 1.1–1.5 mm long, sulcate, with scattered hairs. Seeds ca 0.8–1 by 0.6–0.8 mm, yellowish- to medium-brown, smooth to slightly roughened, often with ca 3 very shallow and indistinct grooves, ecarunculate.


Thailand : NORTHERN: Mae Hong Son (15 km NW of Mae Hong Son), Chiang Mai (Ban San Pa Sak, Doi Muang Awn, Mae Heeyah, Mae Soi), Lamphun (Mae Li), Lampang (Ban Nikom, Mae Mawh, Mae Wang, Muang Ngao, Doi Pang La, Huai Tak), Phrae (Mae Yom NP), Tak (Doi Tung Cha, Raheng); NORTH-EASTERN: Nong Khai (Chaiyaburi), Nakhon Phanom, Mukdahan; SOUTH-WESTERN: Kanchanaburi (Wangka); CENTRAL: Chai Nat, Ang Thong, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (Bangkok).


Distribution : Because most data in the literature are based on confusion with similar species, difficult to extract; probably from Sri Lanka (type) and India to Nepal, Burma and Indochina, data on Malesia uncertain but at least on Java.


Ecology : In open grasslands, in rice and soybean fields, light roadside forests, degraded seasonally deciduous hardwood-bamboo forests, teak and bamboo forests, on grassy or swampy ground, sandy river bank, on granite or limestone bedrock, 50–500 m alt. Flowering and fruiting: the whole year through.


Vernacular : Buea daeng (เบื้อแดง)(Northern); nam nom ratchasi (น้ำนมราชสีห์)(Central).


Notes: Euphorbia parviflora has been confused with E. hypericifolia for a long time. Euphorbia hypericifolia is a completely glabrous species indigenous to the New World, and not found in Thailand. The seeds may be completely smooth (e.g., coll. Wichian 320), or having shallow grooves and ridges in otherwise identical plants (e.g. coll. Maxwell 91–935); this character does not seem reliable to separate E. parviflora from related species (like E. indica Lam.). The collection Put 2074 (Aranya Prathet, Sra Kaeo province) is more densely pubescent throughout, with larger leaves (3.3 by 1.4 cm) and notably larger fruits (2.0 mm long), and therefore approaches E. indica. Seed surface, leaf shape etc. do not differ from other Thai plants. Nomenclatural problems have been discussed in two separate publications (Esser & Cafferty, 2001: Esser & Chayamarit, 2001).


Main