May 2022
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8 Reads
Phytotaxa
Euphorbi berryi is described and illustrated with photos. It is known from the Cerrado vegetation of Maranhão, Brazil, where it occurs on sandy soils in the municipality of Carolina at elevations of 187 to 350 m. The precise affinities of Euphorbia berryi are not clear, but it undoubtedly belongs to Euphorbia subg. Chamaesyce sect. Anisophyllum. It differs from other species of the section by the combination of being a delicate annual with the stipules united into an erose sheath; slender styles that are notched at the apex; and linear, entire, strongly falcate leaves that are scarcely asymmetrical at the base and have a white, straight to flexuous, quickly deciduous, hairlike extension at the apex. The latter feature is apparently unique in sect. Anisophyllum. Comparisons are made with Euphorbia burchellii and E. potentilloides, two species with which it has been confused. Its conservation status is preliminary assessed to be data deficient (DD) until the populations can be field evaluated.