euphorbiacej:. 31 



monocarpellary. Pericarp nucamentaceous, echinate: seed exalbumiuous. — Suffruticose 

 herbs ; flowers purplish, axillary or racemose. 



13. K. Ixina, L. Villons-pubescent ; leaves elliptical-lanceolate, mucronate ; flowers 

 racemose ; sepals 4, pubescent externally ; posterior petals connected at the base ; stamens 

 4 ; spines of pericarp glochidate. — Tuss. Fl. 1. 1. 15. — Stem erect, branched, woody below : 

 branches virgate, 6"-12" long; pedicels short, bibracteolate about the middle.— Hab. An- 

 tigua!, Wullschl.; [Haiti, Cumana]. 



XIX. EUPHOKBIACE.E. \ 1 I 



[Antidesmese.] 



Flowers unisexual. Pistil syncarpous, rarely reduced : cells 1-2-ovulate : ovules pendu- 

 lous, with a fleshy inner integument. Pericarp usually capsular, tricoccous, and with the 

 endocarp separable. -Embryo included within a fleshy perisperm : cotyledons leafy. — 

 Leaves mostly simple. 



Acrid, poisonous properties prevail in the milky juice {Euphorbia, Pedilanthus, Tragia, 

 Jcalypha, Cicca, etc. ; poisonous trees are Hura, Sapium, and Jlippomane) : but there are 

 some exceptions, as iu the bitter-aromatic bark of many Croton species (Cascarilla bark, 

 obtained chiefly from Croton Eluteria). The milk of Siphonia yields the American caout- 

 chouc. The oily seeds, though devoid of milk, are purgative in Ricinus and Curoas. The 

 Cassava is the famous, nutritive rhizome of Janipha : the seeds of Cicca and Aleurites are 

 likewise eatable. Most of the West Indian Euphorbiacece are shrubs, or trees, some of 

 which produce timber. 



Tribe I. BUXEJE. — Ovary-cells 2-ovulate. Capsule loculicidal, with the dissepiments 

 cohering. Seeds ecarunculate. 



1. TRICERA, Schreb. 



Flowers moncccious. <$ : Calyx 4-partite, coloured. Petals 0. Stamens 4, inserted 

 below a central rudiment ; filaments broad : anthers recurved, introrse. $ : Sepals 5. 

 Styles 3 (-4), inserted below the top of the ovary. — Shrubs; leaves opposite, exstipulute, 

 quite entire, glabrous, coriaceous ; corymbiform cymes axillary, or lateral: $ flower 

 central, sessile. 



The arillus, mentioned by Swartz, is nothing but the loosened endocarp, dehiscent on the 

 inner side. 



1. T. laevigata, Sw. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, pointed ; axillary cymes peduncled, 

 exceeded 3-4 times by the leaves: pedicels twice as long as the $ flowers : calyx- segments 

 ovate-lanceolate, exceeded by the subulate-oblong filaments. — Sw. Ft. t. 7 : Analyt.— T. 

 citrifolia, W. ex Sieb. Mart. 208 !— Leaves 3"-2i" long, 1" broad : veins inconspicuous 

 beneath ; calyx $ 2'" long ; seeds 2'" long, convex -trigonal, shining-black. — Hab. Jamaica, 

 in the Western hills (Sw.) ; [S. Croix, Martinique ! ; Venezuela]. 



2. T. fasciculata, Gr. (n. sp.). Leaves elliptical, pointed, orbluntish; axillary cymes 

 contracted, few-flowered, subsessile, or shortly peduncled, 2-3 times longer than the petiole : 

 pedicels as long as the $ flowers : calyx-segments linear, bluntish, as long as the lanceolate 

 filaments. — A dwarfish shrub ; leaves 3-2" long, veiny on both sides ; fascicles 5-7-flowered ; 

 calyx $ 1'" long ; ovary 2"'-3'" long, much longer than the sepals, as long as the recurved 

 styles. — Hab. Jamaica!, Pd., on the Coffee-ridge, S. Ann's. 



Tribe II. PHYLLANTHE2E. — Ovary-cells 2-owdate. Capsule divided into cocci, 

 or baccate. Seeds usually ecarunculate. 



Subtribe 1. DRYPETEJS. — Stamens inserted around a central rudiment. 



2. RICHERLA, V. 



Flowers dioecious. Calyx 5-4-partite, imbricative. Petals 0. Stamens 5-4, alternating 



* with glands : anthers globose-bilocular, extrorse. Ovary 3-celled : styles 3, short, revolute. 



Capsule usually monospermous by abortion of 2 cells, 3-valved from the base upwards in 



