Euphorbia garberi facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Euphorbia garberi |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Euphorbia
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| Species: |
garberi
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| Synonyms | |
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Chamaesyce garberi |
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Euphorbia garberi, also known as Garber's spurge, is a very rare flowering plant. It belongs to the euphorbiaceae family, which includes many different types of plants. This special plant is found only in Florida, USA. It grows in a few places, mostly on the islands of the Florida Keys.
Scientists know of 17 places where this plant grows. Fourteen of these are on different islands in the Florida Keys. The number of plants in each group can be very different. Some groups have fewer than 20 plants, while one group has over a million! This plant used to be found in more places. Now, the remaining groups are in danger from many things. The United States government lists Garber's spurge as a threatened species. This means it needs protection to survive.
What Garber's Spurge Looks Like
This plant does not live very long. It grows low to the ground, with fuzzy branches spreading out. Its leaves are small, hairy, and oval-shaped, less than one centimeter long. The plant's flowers are very tiny. They grow in a special cluster called a cyathium. Sometimes, there are small petal-like parts around the center of the flower cluster.
Where Garber's Spurge Lives
Garber's spurge has disappeared from about half of the islands it once lived on in the Florida Keys. It also used to be more common in Miami-Dade County. Today, only two groups of these plants remain there. The smallest group is on Cudjoe Key, where only one plant is left.
Most of the places where this plant naturally grows have been used for buildings. Other areas have been damaged. Garber's spurge is part of the pine rocklands plant community. This community needs regular wildfires to stay healthy. Fires help clear out other plants and keep the ecosystem balanced.
In the few remaining areas of pine rocklands, people have tried to stop fires. This has caused thick woody plants and new plant species from other places to grow too much. These taller plants block the sunlight from smaller plants like Garber's spurge. One good example is Long Pine Key in the Everglades. Here, natural fires still happen, which helps the plants.
You can also find Garber's spurge on dunes in the Keys. It also grows on the open edges of hammocks on the mainland. Some plants even grow in disturbed places like roadsides. However, these plants usually do not live very long.
See also
In Spanish: Euphorbia garberi para niños
