GENUS 5. 



SPURGE FAMILY. 



457 



2. Ditaxis humilis (Engelm. & Gray) Pax. 

 Low Ditaxis. Fig. 2720. 



Aphora humilis Engelm. & Gray, Bost. Journ. Nat. 



Hist. 5 : 262. 1847. 

 Argyrothamnia humilis Muell. Arg. Linnaea, 34 : 



147. 1865. 

 Ditaxis humilis Pax in Engl. & Prantl, Nat Pfl. Fam. 



3: Abt. 5, 45. 1890. 



Stem slender, much branched, pubescent, the 

 branches spreading, 4'-! long. Leaves alternate, 

 ovate, oblong, obovate or oblanceolate, 5"-i5" 

 long, entire, narrowed into a short petiole; flow- 

 ers in axillary clusters; staminate flowers with 

 petals a little longer than the 5 calyx-segments 

 and longer than the lobes of the disk; pistillate 

 flowers with a 5-parted calyx and 3 styles each 

 usually twice 2-cleft; capsule short-pedicelled, 

 much depressed, 2"-$' in diameter, 3-4-lobed; 

 seeds oval-globose, about i" long, muricate. 



Prairies, Kansas to Louisiana and Texas. March- 

 Sept. 



6. ACALYPHA L. Sp. PI. 1003. 1753. 



Herbs or shrubs, our species annual, monoecious. Stems mostly erect and branched. 

 Leaves alternate, entire or toothed, petioled, stipulate. Flowers in axillary and terminal 

 spikes or spike-like racemes, the staminate cluster peduncled, each flower in the axil of a 

 minute bractlet, with a 4-parted calyx and 8-16 stamens united at their bases. Pistillate 

 flowers subtended by a fo!ir.ceous bract which often equals or overtops the staminate, the 

 calyx 3-5-parted, ovary 3-celled; stigmas fringed; petals wanting in both kinds of flowers; 

 capsule usually of 3 2-valved carpels, each i-seeded. [Greek, nettle.] 



About 250 species, mostly tropical and subtropical. Type species: Acalypha virginica L. 



Staminate and pistillate flowers in separate spikes or racemes ; capsule spiny. i. A. ostryaefolia. 

 Staminate and pistillate flowers in the same spike or raceme ; capsule smooth. 



Plant not glandular ; bract palmately many-lobed, equalling or exceeding the staminate spike. 



2. A. virginica. 



Plant glandular ; bract many-cleft, shorter than the staminate spike. 3. A. gradient. 



i. Acalypha ostryaefolia Ridd. Horn- 

 beam Three-seeded Mercury. Fig. 2721. 



Acalypha caroliniana Ell. Bot. S. C. & Ga. z : 645. 

 1824. Not Walt. 1788. 



Acalypha ostryaefolia Riddell, Syn. Fl. W. States, 

 33- 1835. 



Dark green, minutely pubescent. Stem 

 erect, rather stout, simple or branched, i-2i 

 tall. Leaves thin, or membranous, ovate, 

 2^-4' long, short-acuminate, serrate, obtuse 

 or cordate at the base, the petioles often as 

 long as the blades ; staminate and pistillate 

 flowers in separate spikes, the bractlets of the 

 staminate minute, those of the pistillate con- 

 spicuous, lobed ; capsule much depressed, 

 3-lobed, iJ"-2" in diameter, spiny; seeds 

 ovoid, i" long, wrinkled. 



New Jersey to Ohio, Kansas, Florida and 

 Mexico. Bahamas, Cuba. June-Nov. 



