GENUS 7. 



SPURGE FAMILY. 



459 



i. Tragia urens L. Eastern Tragia. 

 Fig. 2724. 



Tragia urens L. Sp. PI. Ed. 2, 1391. 1763. 

 Tragia innocua Walt. Fl. Car. 220. 1788. 



Perennial, dull green, pilose or hirsute. 

 Stem slender, erect, 4-1 5' tall, branched; 

 leaves obovate or ovate to linear, entire, un- 

 dulate or toothed, mostly obtuse at the apex, 

 narrowed or subcordate at base, short-petioled 

 or sessile, $"-2' l n '> flowers in terminal or 

 lateral spike-like racemes often 4' long; stam- 

 inate flowers with a 4-lobed calyx and 2 

 stamens ; pistillate flowers several at the base 

 of the racemes, with a 5-6-lobed calyx ; cap- 

 sule short-pedicelled, much depressed, 4"-5" 

 in diameter, sparingly pubescent; seeds sub- 

 globose, 2" long, smooth. 



In sandy soil, Virginia to Florida and Louisiana. 

 May-Aug. 



2. Tragia nepetaefolia Cav. Catnep 

 Tragia. Fig. 2725. 



T.nepetaefolia Cav. Icones 6 : 37. pi- 557, f. i- 1801. 



Tragia urticaefolia Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 2 : 176. 



1803. 



Perennial, hispid with stinging hairs. Stem 

 slender, erect or reclining, 6'-is' long; leaves 

 triangular-ovate or lanceolate, $"-2' long, den- 

 tate-serrate, cordate, short-petioled, the lower 

 sometimes orbicular; racemes 5"-i long, 

 many-flowered; staminate flowers mostly with 

 a 3-lobed calyx and 3 stamens; pistillate flow- 

 ers with a S-lobed calyx ; capsule much de- 

 pressed, 3" in diameter, hirsute ; seeds globose, 

 chestnut brown, smooth, 2" in diameter. 



In sandy soil, Georgia and Florida to Missouri, 

 Kansas, Mexico and New Mexico. Recorded from 

 Virginia. May-Oct. 



3. Tragia ramosa Torr. Branching 

 Tragia. Fig. 2726. 



T. ramosa Torr. Ann. Lye. N. Y. 2: 245. 1826. 

 T. stylaris Muell. Arg. Linnaea 34: 180. 1860. 



Perennial, light green, bristly with stinging 

 hairs. Stem slender, usually much branched, 

 the branches sometimes spreading, 2'-i2' long; 

 leaves lanceolate, ovate-lanceolate or triangu- 

 lar-lanceolate, -2' long, acute at the apex, 

 coarsely and sharply serrate, truncate or cor- 

 date at the base, short-petioled; racemes i'-ii' 

 long, few-flowered ; staminate flowers very 

 short-pedicelled, with a 4-S-lobed calyx and 

 4-6 stamens; pistillate flowers solitary with a 

 5-lobed calyx subtended by a 3-lobed bract ; 

 capsule much depressed, 3"-4" in diameter, 

 bristly; seeds globose, 2" in diameter, orange, 

 more or less variegated. 



In dry soil, Missouri to Texas, Colorado and 

 Arizona. July-Aug. 



