Euphorbia paralias

Euphorbia paralias, the Sea Spurge,[1] is a species of flowering plant in the family Euphorbiaceae, native to Europe, northern Africa and western Asia.[2]

Euphorbia paralias
Sea Spurge in La Revellata, Corsica
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Genus: Euphorbia
Species:
E. paralias
Binomial name
Euphorbia paralias

The species is widely naturalised in Australia.[3] It invades coastal areas, displacing local species and colonising open sand areas favoured by certain nesting birds.[4] Major eradication programmes have been undertaken in some areas, for example by Sea Spurge Remote Area Teams in Tasmania, with great success.[5]

Description

It is an erect, glaucous, perennial plant growing up to 70 centimetres (28 in) tall. The plant has many stems, dividing into 3–5 fertile branches, each branching further. The cauline leaves (arising from the stem, without stalk) are crowded, overlapping, elliptic-ovate (ovate toward the top of the stems), fleshy and 5–20 millimetres (0.2–0.8 in) long. Leaves on fertile branches are circular-rhombic or reniform. Flower head on a solitary cyathia, found in upper forks or at the apex, surrounded by bell-shaped bracts. Female flowers are with styles that divide into two short stigmas, flowering September–May. Fruit is a capsule flattened from above or nearly spherical, deep furrows, wrinkled on keels. Seeds ovoid, pale-grey and smooth. There is a kidney-shaped fleshy outgrowth from the seed coat.[6][3]

Habitat

Sandy sea-shores [7].

References
Euphorbia paralias - MHNT
  1. David Chapman (2008). Exploring the Cornish Coast. Penzance: Alison Hodge. p. 45. ISBN 9780906720561.
  2. "Euphorbia paralias". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 2008-12-23.
  3. James, T.A. & G.J. Harden. "Euphorbia paralias". PlantNET – New South Wales Flora Online. Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust, Sydney Australia. Retrieved 2008-12-23.
  4. "Have you seen this beach weed?". Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment (Tasmania). Archived from the original on 22 April 2011. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  5. "EVALUATION REPORT DECEMBER 2015 - Wildcare SPRATS volunteer weed eradication project". Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  6. Boyce, Lauran; Buckeridge, John (2018). The terrestrial plants of the Rickett's Point Urban Sanctuary : Beaumaris Vic 3193. Beaumaris, Victoria: Greypath Productions. p. 73. ISBN 978-1760019716. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  7. Tutin. Flora Europaea, vol. 2.
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