沙生大戟 sha sheng da ji

Euphorbia kozlovii var. angustifolia S. Q. Zhou.

Herbs, erect, 15-20 cm tall. Rootstock 7-12 cm × 3-5 mm, few branched. Stems 1 to several, 3-5 mm thick, smooth and glabrous. Leaves alternate; stipules absent; petiole ± absent; leaf blade elliptic to ovate-elliptic, 2-4 cm × 3-5 mm, base cuneate or rounded and ± contracted into short false petiole, margin entire or irregularly denticulate, apex obtuse; midrib prominent abaxially, lateral veins mostly basal, 3-5 pairs plus several finer outer veins. Inflorescence a compound pseudumbel, usually without lateral cymes; primary involucral leaves (2-)4 or 5, leaflike but broader, ovate-long-triangular, 3-5 × 0.8-1.6 cm, base auriculate, apex acuminate, primary rays (2-)4 or 5, 1-3(-5) cm; cyathophylls 2, similar to primary involucral leaves, 0.9-1 × 0.7-1.1 cm, base cuneate, margin entire, apex subacute. Cyathium stipe 3-5 mm; involucre broadly campanulate, ca. 3 × 4-6 mm, glabrous outside, lobes triangular-ovate, pilose inside; glands 4, transversely elliptic, ± peltate, entire. Bracteoles linear. Male flowers many, exserted from involucre. Female flower: ovary pedicel 3-5 mm, exserted from cup; ovary smooth, glabrous; styles free, persistent; style arms deeply 2-lobed. Fruiting peduncle ca. 5 mm; capsule globose or ovoid-globose, 4-5 × 3.5-4 mm, smooth, glabrous. Seeds ovoid, ca. 4 × 2.5-3 mm, densely verrucose; caruncle large, peltate, yellowish white, stipe extremely thin. Fl. and fr. May-Aug.

Sandy deserts. Gansu, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shanxi [Mongolia].