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(Last Modified On 3/20/2013)
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(Last Modified On 3/20/2013)
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Species
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Euphorbia cotinifolia L.
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PlaceOfPublication
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Sp. P1. 453, 1753.
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Description
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Tree, head strongly branched, to 10 m, branches terete, articulate, glabrous. Leaves ternate (rarely alternate at some nodes); stipules obsolete; petiole 2-6 cm long, slender; blade ovate, 4-6 X 3-5 cm, green, glabrous or with scattered short hairs, the base rounded, sometimes obscurely peltate, the margin entire, the apex truncate to emarginate. Cyathia in terminal cymes, often forming showy panicles with up to 30 on each of 6-12 laterals at the tip of a branch, campanulate, ca 3 mm diam, the lobes broad, fimbriate and often white at their apices; glands 5(4), brown, the appendages larger than glands, white. Fruit not seen from Panamanian material; a Mexican collection (Pringle 6069 MO) has capsules broadly ovoid, to 6 mm diam, sparsely pubescent; seed ovoid, ca 2.5 mm long, somewhat angled, the surface deeply pitted with pits ? in rows and occasionally also warted, ecar- unculate.
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Habit
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Tree
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Distribution
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Mexico through Central America to northern South America. Occasionally planted as living fence posts and probably introduced to the West Indies for this reason.
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Specimen
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CHIRIQUI: nr Frances Arriba school, ca 14 mi N of David, Lewis et al. 661 (DUKE, F, GH, K, MO, NY, UG, US); vic of San Felix, Pittier 5449 (F, US).
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Note
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A very striking small tree similar to this taxon but with bright red leaves is often seen in Central America as a hedge plant. An example from Panama is Duke 8454 (MO) from a cemetery in Mulatuppu, Comarca de San Blas. Its taxonomic position is not clear but it is probably the entity which Klotzsch & Garcke described as Alectoroctoinum caracasanum (Abh. Akad. Berlin, Phys.-Math. 1860: 40, 1860). In making the transfer to Euphorbia Boissier (in DC., Prodr. 15(2): 60, 1862) describes it as having cymes of 3-7 cyathia. This and the color and possibly thinner texture of the leaves may be enough to warrant its separation at specific rank, but further collections from all parts of the range are needed to be sure whether this is the case or if it would better be treated as a subspecific segregate of E. cotinifolia.
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