GENUS 9. 



SPURGE FAMILY. 



461 



i. Ricinus communis L. Castor-oil 



Plant. Castor-bean. Palma 



Christi. Fig. 2729. 



Ricinus communis L. Sp. PI. 1007. 1753. 



Stem erect, 3-l5 tall, more or less 

 branched, becoming tree-like in warm re- 

 gions. Leaves nearly orbicular in outline, 

 4'-2 broad, 6-ii-palmately-lobed and pel- 

 tate, the lobes toothed, acute or acuminate; 

 capsule 6"-8" in diameter, usually spiny; 

 sometimes smooth ; seeds shining, smooth, 

 black, variegated with white, or mottled 

 with gray and brown markings. 



In waste places, escaped from cultivation, 

 New Jersey to Florida and Texas. An impos- 

 ing ornamental plant, and also of medicinal 

 value. Widely naturalized in warm and trop- 

 ical regions. Oil-plant. Mexico-seed. Stedfast. 

 Man's-motherwort. 



10. STILLINGIA Garden; L. Mant. i: 19, 126. 1767. 



Monoecious glabrous herbs or shrubs, with simple or branched stems, alternate or rarely 

 opposite, entire or toothed leaves, often \vith 2 glands at the base, the flowers bracteolate, in 

 terminal spikes, apetalous, the bractlets 2-glandular. Staminate flowers several together in 

 the axils of the bractlets, the calyx slightly 2-3-lobed; stamens 2-3, exserted. Pistillate 

 flowers solitary in the axils of the lower bractlets; calyx 3-lobed, ovary 2-celled or 3-celled 

 with a solitary ovule in each cavity; styles stout, somewhat united at the base. Capsule 

 2-lobed or 3-lobed, separating into 2 or 3 two-valved carpels. Seeds ovoid or subglobose. 

 Embryo straight in the fleshy endosperm. [In honor of Dr. B. Stellingfleet, an English 

 botanist] 



About 15 species, mostly of tropical America and the islands of the Pacific Ocean, the follow- 

 ing typical. 



i. Stillingia sylvatica L. Queen's De- 

 light. Queen-root. Fig. 2730. 



Stillingia sylvatica L. Mant. i : 126. 1767. 



A bright green slightly fleshy perennial herb. 

 Stem rather stout, erect or assurgent, usually 

 branched from the base, i-3$ tall. Leaves 

 obovate, oblong or elliptic, 5"-4' long, obtuse, or 

 subacute, serrate with appressed teeth, often nar- 

 rowed at the 2-glandular base, sessile; flowers in 

 terminal spikes, lemon-colored, subtended by small 

 bracts furnished with saucer-shaped glands ; calyx 

 cup-shaped ; petals and glandular disk none ; cap- 

 sule depressed, 5"-7" in diameter, 3-lobed; seeds 

 ovoid, 3" long, light gray, minutely pitted and 

 papillose, the base flattened. 



In dry soil, Virginia to Florida, Kansas and Texas. 

 Called also Silver-leaf ; the root, known as Queen's- 

 root, an alterative. Yaw-root. Nettle-potatoe. March- 

 Oct. 



Stillingia salicifolia (Torr.) Small, with relatively 

 narrower and serrulate leaves, ranges from Kansas 

 to Texas. 



