240 EUPHORBIACEAE. 



9. Chamaesyce vaginulata (Griseb.) Millsp. Field Mus. Bot. 2: 302. 1909. 



Eiiphorbia vaginulata Griseb. Fl. Br. W. I. 52. 1859. 



A low, densely branched shrub, 2 dm. to 2 m. high, the branchlets closely 

 ringed with the old persistent stipular sheaths, giving the whole shrub an 

 ashen hue. Leaves small, 3-15 X 1 mm., fleshy, linear (in some specimens 

 globular), glabrous, entire, obtuse., very short-petioled, springing from a 

 broad scaphoid' sheath-like stipule with a ciliate margin ; involucres solitary, 

 terminal on the branchlets, turbinate, short-pedicelled; tube thick-walled, 

 glabrous without and within; lobes triangular, ciliate; glands 4, large, orbicu- 

 lar, sarcous, dark purple, the fifth represented by a larger involucral lobe; 

 bracteoles ligulate, glabrous; capsule glabrous, strongly 3-coecous, the cocci 

 mottled with fine dark confluent punctae; seeds ovoid-quadrangular, bluish 

 white, 1.2 X -8 mm., blunt-pointed, smooth, the testa minutely punctate. 



Rocky white-lauds of Watling's Island, Castle Island, the Inaguas and through- 

 out the C'aicos and Turk's Islands. Endemic. SHEATHED SPUKGE. 



10. Chamaesyce hypericifolia (L.) Millsp. Field Mus. Bot. 2: 302. 1909. 

 Euphorbia hypericifolia L. Sp. PL 454. 1753. 



Annual, erect or ascending, 2-8 dm. Leaves oblong or oblong-lanceolate, 

 often falcate, 1.5-3 cm. X 5-10 mm., obliquely truncate at the base, blunt, 

 more or less sharp-serrate on the upper third, short-petioled, glabrous or some- 

 what hairy; stipules ovate, acute, thin, dentate and ciliate on the margin; 

 inflorescence densely cymose in the axils of the upper and terminal leaves, the 

 floral bracts linear and often white-margined ; involucres turbinate, thin, 

 glabrous without, hirtellous at the throat within; lobes lanceolate-triangular, 

 lacerate into 3-5 teeth; glands small, roundish, stalked, the fifth gland repre- 

 sented by a deep sinus flanked by a larger, more triangular lobe ; appendages 

 white, orbicular or ovate; styles short, deeply bifid; capsule glabrous, strongly 

 3-c.occous, the cocci carinate; seeds ovoid-quadrangular, red, .8 X -6 mm., the 

 angles prominent, the facets marked with many transverse broken ridges. 



Open grassy places throughout the archipelago : Bermuda : Gulf of Mexico 

 region of the United States ; Mexico : Central and South America : West Indies. 

 Referred by Mrs. Northrop to Euithorbiu nutuns Lag. HYPERICUSI-LEAVED SPURGE. 



11. Chamaesyce brasiliensis (Lam.) Small, Fl. SE. U. S. 712. 1903. 

 Euphorbia brasiliensis Lam. Encye. 2: 423. 1788. 



Annual, erect or ascending, similar in habit to the last, but with more 

 filiform branchlets, smaller and more falcate leaves, fewer-flowered cymes, 

 and black seeds. Stipules broadly deltoid, bifurcate into lacerate lobes ; 

 involucres glabrous without and within, very short-pedicelled; lobes triangular, 

 mostly entire; glands minute, long-stalked, the fifth represented by a very 

 shallow sinus flanked by two larger involucral lobes ; capsule glabrous, strongly 

 3-coccous; seeds ovoid-quadrangular, black, 1.2 X -9 mm., the strong, but 

 rounded, angles white-edged, dorsal facets marked by 3 complete transverse 

 ridges, ventral 2-ridged. 



Open places and grassy coverts, New Providence and Eleuthera : Florida to 

 Arizona ; Bermuda ; Central America to Brazil ; West Indies. BRAZILIAN SPURGE. 



12. Chamaesyce Blodgettii (Engelm.) Small, Fl. SE. U. S. 712. 1903. 



Euphorbia Blodgettii Engelm.; Hitch. Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 4: 126. 1893. 



Annual, glabrous, prostrate or ascending, branching at the base, the 

 branches 1-4 dm. long, forking. Leaves oblong or nearly so, 3-8 mm. long, 

 minutely serrate toward the apex, oblique at the base, obtuse, petiolate ; 

 stipules broadly triangular, acute, ciliate-margined ; involucres solitary in the 



