Index- plants in this Family
Euphorbiaceae / Spurge
Mercury Spurge (Euphorbia mercurialina)
Mercury Spurge is also known as Cumberland Spurge.

Plant Type: This is a herbaceous plant, it is a perennial which can reach 40cm in height (16inches).
Leaves: The leaf arrangement is opposite. Leaves can reach 6cm in length (2.4inches). Each leaf is entire and slightly ciliate. Leaves on the lower stem scale like. Leaves at first branch may be in a whorl of three and those above that usually opposite with a petiole of 2-6mm (0.07 - 0.24").
Flowers: The flowers have 5 Regular Parts. They are green with small white petal-like appendages. Blooms first appear in mid spring and continue into early summer.
Habitat: Wooded slopes with rich soil.
Range: Known mainly from the Cumberland Plateau and central area of Tennessee and Kentucky into north Alabama and Georgia, it has been reported in Virginia, North Carolina and Florida.

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More Info:   The links below take you to other web sites and each link will open in a new window.
The Search below may provide more information about this species. Some of URLs may have been used as a source for this page not otherwise cited. Most of the information not cited comes from multiple sources that can be found in the Books page. The USDA plant links are provided by: USDA, NRCS 1999. The PLANTS database (http://plants.usda.gov/). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA. You can check species names at ITIS Advanced Search to see if they meet the current ITIS taxonomic criteria.
 

By: Newcomb, Lawrence and Illustrated by Morrison, Gordon. 1977, Little, Brown and Company, ISBN:0-316-60442-9

One of the best general guides to wildflowers of the North Eastern and North Central United States. Newcomb's key is an excellent, simple method for identifying plants. Newcomb has drawings for almost every plant mentioned that are excellent aids to identifying the species. Though only the more common plants are covered this is often the first book I pick up when trying to identify a wildflower.



By: Dennis Horn and Tavia Cathcart and Thomas E. Hemmerly and David Duhl. , ISBN:1551054280

This is perhaps the best of many field guides covering this region. Featuring 446 excellent color photographs (located with the text) and mentioning as similar to those illustrated are another 800 or so species for a total coverage of over 1,200 species. The start of each family section includes line drawings of some of the species showing important features. The text includes the usual description, bloom season, range, habitat and additionally includes information such as medical uses and lore and how the species was named. This is the official field guide of the Tennessee Native Plant Society.



Classification:  
Kingdom
Plantae
|Division
Magnoliophyta
Angiosperms / Flowering Plants
|Class
Magnoliopsida
Dicots / Two Seed Leaves
|Subclass
Rosidae
Rose
||Family
Euphorbiaceae
Spurge
|Subfamily

|Tribe

|Genus
Euphorbia
Spurge

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www.2bnTheWild.com - Wildflowers of the Southeastern United States, Page updated on 6/30/2007 7:31:53 PM. (Viewed date from local machine.)
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