EUPHOKBIACEAE 693 



8. Phyllanthus polygonoides Niitt. Perennial, slender. Stems more or less 

 diffusely branched at the base ; branches wire-like, 0.5-3 dm. long, simple or branching: 

 leaves alternate ; blades oblong or oblong-cuneate, 5-15 mm. long, obtuse or apiculate, entire, 

 short-petioled : flowers 2-.3 in an axil or sometimes solitary : pedicels slender, 2-5 mm, 

 long : sepals oval or rhombic, 1-1.5 mm. long, white-margined, acute : capsules spheroidal. 

 3-3.5 mm. broad, glabrous: seeds 1.5 mm. long, minutely warty. 



In sandy or rocky soil, Texas. Spring to fall. 



3. REVERCHONIA A. Gray. 



Annual monoecious or dioecious herbs, with glabrous foliage. Stems terete, forking. 

 Leaves alternate : blades entire, petioled. Flowers inconspicuous : staminate with a calyx 

 of 4 sepals ; stamens 2, short ; filaments distinct ; anthers introrse, opening lengthwise, 

 Pistillate flowers with a calyx of 5 sepals and a 6-lobed disk ; ovary 3-celled ; styles 3. 

 distinct ; stigmas notched. Ovules 2 in each cavity. Capsule becoming dry, usually 

 depressed. Seeds 2 in each cavity. 



1. Reverchonia arenaria A. Gray. Annual, glabrous, glaucous. Stems 3-6 dm. 

 tall, zigzag, widely branched, rarely difliise : leaf-blades linear to oblong or oblong-spatu- 

 late, 2-4 cm. long, acute or rather obtuse, entire, flat, sessile : flowers inconspicuous ; 

 staminate clustered ; pistillate axillary, short-pedicelled, sometimes solitary in the stami- 

 nate clusters : perianth greenish, turning purplish : sepals 6, linear or linear-lanceolate : 

 capsules spheroidal, 8-10 mm. broad, faintly reticulated : seeds mottled, 5-6 mm. long. 



In dry soil, Texas and adjacent Mexico. Spring and summer. 



4. DRYPETES Vahl. 



Evergreen shrubs or trees, with glabrous foliage and milky sap. Leaves alternate, per- 

 sistent : blades leathery, entire or undulately toothed. Flowers dioecious, apetalous : 

 staminate in rather dense axillary clusters : pistillate solitary or few in axillary clusters. 

 Pedicels short and often stout. Sepals 4-8, imbricated. Petals wanting. Stamens inserted 

 under the edge of a flat or concave disk : filaments filiform, distinct : anthers extrorse, 

 erect. Ovary sessile on the disk, 1-2-celled : style almost wanting : stigmas disk-like or 

 2-lobed. Ovules 2 in each cavity, pendulous, anatropous. Berry or drupe globose or ob- 

 long, with a fleshy pulp and a bony stone. Seed with a crustaceous or membranous testa. 

 Guiana Plum. Whitew^ood. 



Sepals 4 : ovary 2-celled : drupe subglobose. 1. D. lateriflora. 



Sepals 8 : ovary 1-celled : drupe slightly elongated. 2. D. Keyensis. 



1. Drypetes lateriflora (Sw. ) Urban. A shrub or tree, reaching a height of 10 m., 

 the foliage glabrous in age. Leaf-blades leathery, oblong or elliptic, 5-12 cm. long, acute 

 or short-acuminate at both ends, entire, lustrous, delicately reticulated beneath : petioles 

 6-10 mm. long : clusters few-flowered : pedicels shorter than the petioles : calyx greenish 

 white, campanulate : sepals oblong, or ovate, obtuse, 1.5-2 mm. long, pubescent without : 

 stamens 4 : drupes subglobose, 6-8 mm. in diameter, dark brown, tomentulose, ripe in 

 spring or summer. [D. crocea Poir. ] 



In woods, southern peninsular Florida and the Keys. Also in the Bahamas and West Indies. 



2. Drypetes Key6nsis Urban. A shrub or tree, sometimes 12 m. tall, with a milk- 

 white bark and glabrous and glaucous foliage. Leaf-blades leathery, oblong, ellijitic or 

 oval, 4-10 cm. long, obtuse, acute or slightly acuminate at both ends, delicately nerved 

 beneath : petioles 5-10 ram. long : clusters few-flowered ; the staminate with more flowers 

 than the pistillate, the pistillate flowers sometimes solitary : pedicels much shorter than 

 the petioles : calyx yellowish : sepals oblong or oval, sometimes slightly rhombic, obtuse, 

 pubescent without : stamens 8 : stigmas lightly oblique : drupes broadly oblong or ovoid, 

 2-2.5 cm. long, tomentulose, ripe in fall. [Z*. glauca Nutt., not Vahl.] 



In dry sand, Florida Keys. 



5. CROTON L.' 



Herbs or shrubs, monoecious or rarely dioecious, strong-scented, stellate-pubescent, or 

 scaly, and often more or less glandular. Leaves mostly alternate : blades entire, toothed, 

 or lobed, sometimes with 2 glands at the base. Flowers in axillary or terminal clusters, 

 usually spicate, or racemose. Staminate flowers uppermost : sepals 4-6, usually 5 : petals 



Contributed by Mr. A. M. Ferguson. 



