Euphorbia fendleri
Encyclopedia
Euphorbia fendleri is a species of euphorb known by the common name Fendler's sandmat. It is native to much of the southwestern and central United States and northern Mexico, where it grows in scrub and woodland habitat in desert and plateau regions. This is a mat- or clump-forming reddish-green plant with a crooked, creeping, hairless stem. The leaves are rounded, oval, or spade-shaped, smooth along the edges and generally coming to a point, and not much more than one centimeter in maximum length. The tiny inflorescence
is a cyathium
with white-edged, scalloped appendages surrounding the actual flowers. There is a ring of 25 to 35 staminate
flowers around one pistillate
flower. The ovary of the pistillate flower enlarges into a lobed fruit about 2 millimeters long.
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
is a cyathium
Cyathium
A cyathium is one of the specialised pseudanthia forming the inflorescence of plants in the genus Euphorbia . A cyathium consists of:...
with white-edged, scalloped appendages surrounding the actual flowers. There is a ring of 25 to 35 staminate
Stamen
The stamen is the pollen producing reproductive organ of a flower...
flowers around one pistillate
Gynoecium
Gynoecium is most commonly used as a collective term for all carpels in a flower. A carpel is the ovule and seed producing reproductive organ in flowering plants. Carpels are derived from ovule-bearing leaves which evolved to form a closed structure containing the ovules...
flower. The ovary of the pistillate flower enlarges into a lobed fruit about 2 millimeters long.