Euphorbia strictior (Panhandle Spurge)
TITHYMALOPSIS STRICTIOR
Huft (1979) provides a disappointing written description of the plant's distribution by stating that it "is much more restricted in range [than Euphorbia wrightii], occurring in the high plains in three counties of the Texas panhandle [eastern side] and three counties in adjacent New Mexico"; his map indicates that he saw specimens that came from several miles north and south of the Canadian River in the Tucumcari area and one specimen from as far south as perhaps the Clovis area (Curry County). Naumann (1986) lists six counties in New Mexico (Chavez, Curry, Harding, Quay, Roosevelt, and San Miguel) and four counties in Texas (Crockett, Deaf Smith, Oldham, and Smith) in which this plant is known to occur.
Plains and hills (Woot. & Standl. 1915); often in disturbed soils in rights-of-way, sandy limestone soils, in PJ woodland or juniper savannah (Sivinski 1997); infrequent in sandy areas of the short grass plains, 900-1,400 m (3,000-4,500 ft.) (New Mexico Native Plant Advisory Committee 1984).
Although a regional endemic, it is locally common and a habitat generalist, occurring in 7 TX counties and 4 NM counties (SEINet 2021).
New Mexico Native Plants Protection Advisory Committee. 1984. A handbook of rare and endemic plants of New Mexico. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque. (Illustration is not A. chaplinei.)
Correll, D.S. and M.C. Johnston. 1979. Manual of the vascular plants of Texas, second printing. The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX.
Wooton, E.O. and P.S. Standley. 1915. Flora of New Mexico. Contributions from the United States National Herbarium, Smithsonian Institution, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
Barlow-Irick, P. 1997. Personal communication.
Huft, M.J. 1979. A monograph of Euphorbia section Tithymalopsis. Unpublished PhD dissertation. University of Michigan
Naumann, T.S. 1986. Status report on Euphorbia strictior. The Nature Conservancy and US Fish and Wildlife Service, Albuquerque, NM.
Sivinski, R. and K. Lightfoot. 1995. Inventory of rare and endangered plants of New Mexico. New Mexico Forestry and Resources Conservation Division; Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department, Santa Fe.
Sivinski, R. 1997. Email communication.
For distribution maps and more information, visit Natural Heritage New Mexico