Euphorbia paralias

Beach spurge (Euphorbia paralias )

The beach or dune spurge spurge (Euphorbia paralias ) is a flowering plant in the genus Euphorbia (Euphorbia ) from the family of the spurge family ( Euphorbiaceae ). The German name indicate the specificity of the kind, always near a beach and usually grow there on the dunes.

Description

The beach spurge is a perennial plant of 20 to 70 cm in height. About her thin, up to 1 m long Pflahlwurzel it branches strongly from their base. The initially green and somewhat fleshy branches are colored reddish with time and become woody. They usually grow upright, can also lie down with emerging shoot tips though. The numerous, upright and overlapping, blue-green leaves are oblong- elliptic grassroots level, 10 to 30 mm long and 1-6 mm wide, shorter above and ovate.

The inflorescences appear terminally and laterally from the upper leaf axils as a short, three-to sechstrahlige cymes. Your paired bracts are bright green and oval to kidney-shaped. The nectar glands of cyathia are yellow to orange, oval to kidney-shaped, the outside with an irregular edge and two horns. The dreikammerigen fruit capsules have a diameter of about 5 mm and a significantly grainy surface. The seeds are ovoid, smooth and wear a tag ( caruncle ).

Bloom time is depending on the location of May to September.

Dissemination

The main distribution area of the beach spurge is located in the Mediterranean. To the east extends the distribution area to the Black Sea, to the west on the Atlantic coast of Morocco on France and Germany to the British Isles. As salt- loving plant ( Halophyt ) it is always to be found near the coast. Preferred locations are smaller dunes. Part of it penetrates well into smooth sand surfaces in the back country or on the beach, sometimes even in gravel areas. Since the seeds are buoyant and resistant to sea water for a long time due to their fat content of about 40 %, in addition to the spread, the spread over the sea is by insects ( mostly ants) possible.

Possibility of confusion

In figure is very similar to that occurring in the Mediterranean Euphorbia pithyusa L. However, this is less and less branched, has smooth fruit and does not occur close to the beach.