216 



EUPHORBIACEAE. 



7. Chamaesyce maculata (L.) 

 J. K. Small. SPOTTED OR BLOTCHED 

 SPURGE. (Fig. 240.) Green, puberu- 

 lent or pilose. Branches slender, 

 radiately prostrate, 2'-] 6' long, often 

 dark red; leaves usually blotched, 

 oblong or ovate-oblong, 2 "-8" long, 

 obtuse, more or less serrate, the base 

 oblique, subeordate; involucres soli- 

 tary in the axils, 1" long, with 4 cup- 

 shaped glands, the appendages nar- 

 row, white or red ; capsule ovoid- 

 globose, about 1" in diameter, pu- 

 bescent; seeds ovoid-oblong, obtusely 

 angled, minutely pitted and trans- 

 versely wrinkled. [Euphorbia macu- 

 lata L.] 



Common in waste and cultivated 

 grounds. Naturalized. Native of con- 

 tinental North America. Flowers from 

 spring to autumn. 



8. Chamaesyce hirta (L.) Millsp. 

 HAIRY SPURGE. (Fig. 241.) Annual, 

 pubescent; stems slender, branched, 3'-15' 

 long, the branches diffuse, ascending or 

 prostrate. Leaves oblong to ovate-lanceo- 

 late, obliquely inequilateral, short-petioled, 

 4"-12" long, acute, serrate, usually 

 blotched; involucres in rather dense sub- 

 globose, stalked, terminal and axillary clus- 

 ters shorter than the leaves; glands very 

 small, their appendages obsolete; capsule 

 pubescent, 3-lobed, about *' high ; seeds 

 bluntly angled, their faces faintly wrinkled 

 transversely. [Euphorbia hirta L. ; Eu- 

 phorbia pilulifera L.] 



Common in cultivated ground. Natural- 

 ized. Native of the West Indies and tropical 

 continental America. Flowers from spring to 

 autumn. 



9. TITHYMALUS [Tourn.] Aclans. 



Annual or perennial herbs or shrubby plants, with simple or branched 

 stems, topped by several-rayed cyme-like umbels. Leaves below the umbel 

 usually scattered or alternate, without stipules, often broadened upward. 

 Bracts of the umbel quite different from the stem-leaves, entire or toothed. 

 Involucres sessile or peduncled, axillary, disposed in cymes, their lobes often 

 toothed. Glands 4, transversely oblong, reniform or crescent-shaped by the 

 horn-like appendages, the fifth one represented by a thin often ciliate lobe. 

 Capsule exserted, smooth or tuberculate, its lobes rounded, sharp or keeled. 

 Seeds variously pitted, often with caruncles. [Greek, referring to the milky 

 juice of these plants.] About 250 species, widely distributed. Type species: 

 Euphorbia dendroides L. 



