View source for Euphorbia alta

{{Treatment/ID
|accepted_name=Euphorbia alta
|accepted_authority=Norton
|publications={{Treatment/Publication
|title=N. Amer. Euphorbia,
|place=24, plate 24. 1899
|year=1899
}}
|common_names=Giant spurge
|basionyms=
|synonyms={{Treatment/ID/Synonym
|name=Tithymalus altus
|authority=(Norton) Wooton & Standley
}}
|hierarchy=Euphorbiaceae;Euphorbia;Euphorbia subg. Esula;Euphorbia alta
|hierarchy_nav=<div class="higher-taxa"><div class="higher-taxon"><small>family</small>[[Euphorbiaceae]]</div><div class="higher-taxon"><small>genus</small>[[Euphorbia]]</div><div class="higher-taxon"><small>subgenus</small>[[Euphorbia subg. Esula]]</div><div class="higher-taxon"><small>species</small>[[Euphorbia alta]]</div></div>
|volume=Volume 12
|mention_page=page 295, 311
|treatment_page=page 298
}}<!--

--><span class="statement" id="st-undefined" data-properties=""><b>Herbs,</b> annual or biennial, with taproot. <b>Stems</b> erect, branched, 20–60 cm, glabrous. <b>Leaves</b>: petiole 0–1 mm; blade oblong-spatulate, 20–50 × 7–18 mm, base broadly attenuate, margins serrulate, apex rounded to obtuse, surfaces glabrous, ± glaucous; venation pinnate, midvein prominent. <b>Cyathial</b> arrangement: terminal pleiochasial branches 3, 2–3 times 2-branched; pleiochasial bracts elliptic-oblanceolate to oblong, similar in size to distal leaves; dichasial bracts distinct, broadly ovate to orbiculate/reniform, base obtuse, margins serrulate, apex obtuse to rounded and often mucronulate; axillary cymose branches 6–20(–25). <b>Cyathia</b>: peduncle 0.5–1 mm. <b>Involucre</b> narrowly campanulate, 0.8–1.1 × 1.1–1.3 mm, glabrous; glands 4, elliptic, 0.3–0.5 × 0.5–0.7 mm; horns absent. <b>Staminate</b> flowers 5–10. <b>Pistillate</b> flowers: ovary glabrous; styles 0.5–0.9 mm, 2-fid. <b>Capsules</b> depressed-globose, 2–3 × 2.5–3.5 mm, 3-lobed; cocci rounded, papillate, papillae 0.2–0.5 mm, glabrous; columella 1.5–1.9 mm. <b>Seeds</b> purple-black, ovoid, 1.6–2 × 1.3–1.7 mm, reticulate and areolate; caruncle reniform, flat, 0.5 × 0.7 mm.</span><!--

-->{{Treatment/Body
|phenology=Flowering and fruiting summer.
|habitat=Montane pine-oak and mixed conifer forests, disturbed roadsides, logged areas.
|elevation=1500–3000 m.
|distribution=Ariz.;N.Mex.;Mexico.
|discussion=<p><i>Euphorbia alta</i> is a montane species from southern Arizona, New Mexico, and northern and central Mexico that is very similar to and sometimes difficult to distinguish from <i>E. spathulata</i>. <i>Euphorbia alta</i> tends to be a robust biennial, whereas <i>E. spathulata</i> is strictly annual. The most consistent characteristic to separate these two species is that the ovaries and capsules of <i>E. alta</i> are distinctly papillate, with the papillae rising sharply above the surface, whereas the ovaries and capsules of <i>E. spathulata</i> are merely verrucose, with the protuberances lower and rounded.</p>
|tables=
|references=
}}<!--

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-->{{#Taxon:
name=Euphorbia alta
|author=
|authority=Norton
|rank=species
|parent rank=subgenus
|synonyms=Tithymalus altus
|basionyms=
|family=Euphorbiaceae
|phenology=Flowering and fruiting summer.
|habitat=Montane pine-oak and mixed conifer forests, disturbed roadsides, logged areas.
|elevation=1500–3000 m.
|distribution=Ariz.;N.Mex.;Mexico.
|reference=None
|publication title=N. Amer. Euphorbia,
|publication year=1899
|special status=
|source xml=https://jpend@bitbucket.org/aafc-mbb/fna-data-curation.git/src/8f726806613d60c220dc4493de13607dd3150896/coarse_grained_fna_xml/V12/V12_818.xml
|genus=Euphorbia
|subgenus=Euphorbia subg. Esula
|species=Euphorbia alta
}}<!--

-->[[Category:Treatment]][[Category:Euphorbia subg. Esula]]