Re: Euphorbia-- Perennial vs. woody vs. shrub
- To: "'perennials@mallorn.com'" <perennials@mallorn.com>
- Subject: Re: Euphorbia-- Perennial vs. woody vs. shrub
- From: "* T* <m*@clark.net>
- Date: Tue, 4 Aug 1998 03:39:52 -0400
IMO, FWIW, they are herbaceous perennials. True, the stems of E. characias
(and I assume its subsp. wulfenii) do get sort of woody at the very base,
but not like true woody sub-shrubs like rosemary and lavender. Have not
done any chemical analysis - just observation.
E. martinii is a hybrid between E. amygdaloides and E. characias (according
to Clausen & Ekstrom), so would, I assume, be the same. I think I have
one, but it's new and I don't "know" it well, yet...bought it, but need to
check and see if it's still with me and which one of the new guys it is.
E. amygdaloides purpurea (which I grow a lot of ) doesn't get woody at the
base like E. characias (which I also have a lot of) unless it's dying off;
living stems remain pretty flexible and soft.
As an aside, I thought I was getting E. c. wulfenii, but, it appears that
this is somewhat confused in the trade and what I ended up with (from RHS
seed and from a nursery) was actually the species, E. characias. E. c.
wulfenii has a green "eye" (actually gland), whereas E. c. has a black one
- all mine are black! Interesting, tho'. I'm quite fond of euphorbias.
Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@clark.net
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----------
> From: Pesznecker, Sue <SPesznec@lhs.org>
> Date: Monday, August 03, 1998 3:55 PM
>
> Where would euphorbia (as in e. martinii, e. wulfenii) fit in re:
> perennial (herbaceous vs. woody) or shrub??
>
> Sue P.
>
> SPesznec@lhs.org Portland, Oregon
> (USDA zone 8, Sunset zone 6)
>
>
>
> >
> > Woody plants are defined as species that have some plant portion
> > that
> > will lignify -- that is, "become wood or woody by chemical and
> > physical
> > changes in the cell walls that convert some or all of the
> > constituents
> > into lignin or lignocellulose." This generally covers trees,
> > shrubs, and
> > vines.
> >
> > Perennials are plants that come back year after year, although the
> > scope
> > of this list is non-woody perennials (herbaceous).
> >
> > So, shrubs are a subset of woody plants which are a subset of
> > perennials..
> >
> >
>
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