Chamaesyce polygonifolia
English name(s):
seaside sandmat, seaside spurge
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Description:
As one of its common name suggests, the reddish (whitish)-colored stems of this native annual have a flat spreading habit.
Habitat:
sandy dunes and beaches of the Atlantic and the Great Lakes
Notes:
chamai = on the ground +
polys = many/much + folia = leaf
Additional notes:
syn. Euphorbia polygonifolia L.
photograph courtesy of Lisa K. SchlaG
field trip archive: Walnut Beach 2010
state of Ohio: county distribution map
status list by family: Rare Native Ohio Plants
status list by index: Rare Native Ohio Plants
Plant identification:
Newcomb's: Key Group no. 842, p. 432. Euphorbia polygonifolia
Historical description:
Botany of the northern and middle states or A description of the plants found in the United States, north of Virginia : arranged according to the natural system : with a synopsis of the genera according to the Linnaean system: see 4. E. polygonifolia, p. 312
By: Beck, Lewis C., Albany Printed by Webster and Skinners ..., 1833.
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions. 3 vols. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. Vol. 2: 463.
The Beach Again
"... The plants which I noticed here
and there on the pure sandy shelf, between the ordinary high-water mark and the foot of the bank, were Sea Rocket (Cakile Americana), Saltwort (Salsola kali), Sea Sandwort (Honkenya peploides), Sea Burdock (Xanthium echinatum), Sea-side Spurge (Euphorbia polygonifolia); also, Beach Grass (Arundo, Psamma, or Calamagrostis arenaria), Sea-side Golden-rod (Solidago sempervirens), and the Beach Pea (Lathyrus maritimus) ..."
Henry David Thoreau
virtual herbarium sheet 000004 created by Lisa K. SchlaG, 7.ii.2014
