Euphorbia oerstediana (Klotzsch & Garcke) Boiss.
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Authority
Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.
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Family
Euphorbiaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Erect herb 10-25(-50) cm tall, glabrous, with a swollen taproot; stems usually flexuous, green or reddish-tinged. Leaves alternate (uppermost opposite); blades 2.5-9 x 0.8-4 cm, ovate, elliptic, or lanceolate, chartaceous, glabrous or puberulent, lower surface usually glaucous, the apex acute or acuminate, the base rounded, obtuse, or truncate and seldom oblique, the margins entire or slightly wavy; petioles slender, reddish-tinged, 0.3-1.7 mm long; stipules early deciduous. Cyathia funnel-shaped, on terminal cymules, the glands 2, bilabiate, with a green, petaloid, erect appendage. Staminate flowers many per cyathium, some exserted. Pistillate flowers solitary; ovary pubescent, the stigma bifid, short, fingerlike. Capsule 3-lobed, ovoid, emarginate at apex, puberulent, chartaceous, turning from green to straw<:olored, to 4 mm long. Seeds ellipsoidal, 2.5 mm long, warty, yellowish.
Distribution and Ecology - Not very common; found mostly in coastal forest understory. Fish Bay (A3883), Hawksnest Beach (A2902). Also on St. Croix and St. Thomas; Greater Antilles, Lesser Antilles, and northern South America.