696 EUPHORBIACEAE 



10. Croton betulinus Vahl. A trichotomously branched shrub 1-2 m. tall. Leaf- 

 blades ovate, 1-2 cm. long, blunt, crenate-dentate, rounded or truncate at the biglandular 

 base, the pubescence more appressed beneath than above : petioles about h as long as the 

 blades : flowers monoecious ; staminate subtended by lanceolate bracts 1-2 mm. long ; sepals 

 oblong-oval, acute ; petals oblanceolate, ciliate ; stamens 9-12 ; filaments pilose at the base : 

 pistillate flowers solitary or 2-3 below the staminate ; sepals spatulate, accrescent ; petals 

 smaller, subulate, or obsolete : capsules globose-oval, 4.5-5 mm. long : seeds oblong, 3-3.5 

 mm. long, punctate. 



In rocky or sandy soil, peninsular Florida. Also in tropical America. 



11. Croton Floridanus Ferguson. A slender, woody annual plant, 2-5 dm. tall, with 

 dichotomous or trichotomous scabro-stellate branches. Leaf-blades various, elliptic to 

 ovate on the lower part of the stem, oblong to lanceolate above, 1-2 cm. long, serrate- 

 crenate, biglandular at the base, short-petioled : flowers monoecious, 10-20 in sessile racemes 

 2-4 cm. long ; staminate inconspicuous ; sepals ovate or oblong-ovate ; petals oblong or 

 nearly so, narrower than the sepals, ciliate ; stamens about 10 : pistillate flowei-s solitary or 

 several below the staminate, subtended by deltoid bracts ; sepals linear to oblanceolate or 

 spatulate, accrescent ; petals rudimentary, subulate : capsules oblong-oval, about 4 mm. 

 long : seeds oval, about 3 mm. long, each tipped with a thick caruncle. 



In sand, peninsular Florida. 



12. Croton glandulosus L. A ti-opical American species represented in our area by 

 the following varieties : C. glandulosus septentrloncllis Muell. Arg. with coarsely-stellate fol- 

 iage and serrate mainly oblong leaf-blades, ranges from Virginia to Iowa, Florida and 

 Texas; C. glandulosus Groftiae [C. glandulosus Lindheimeri Muell. Arg.,_ not C. Lind- 

 heimerianus Scheele], with" appressed-stellate foliage, and irregularly elliptic shallowly 

 toothed leaf-blades 1-2 cm. long, occurs in Texas ; C. glandulosus Simpsdnii Ferguson, with 

 densely stellate foliage and coarsely serrate-crenate ovate leaf-blades, occurs in southern 

 peninsular Florida ; C. glandulosus crenatif alius Ferguson, with thinly appressed-stellate 

 foliage and crenate elongated oblong upper leaf-blades, occurs in southern peninsular 

 Florida and on the Keys; C. gland ulosus augustifolins Muell. Arg., with thinly appressed 

 stellate foliage and linear remotely serrate upper leaf-blades, occurs in Florida and Texas. 



13. Croton capitatus Michx. Annual, 3-8 dm. tall, tlie branches approximate 

 above. Leaf-blades various, those of the lower leaves oval, those of the upper leaves ob- 

 long, sometimes narrowly so, 2-5 cm. long, mucronate, entire, rounded or rarely cordate at 

 the base and occasionally biglandular, velvety above, densely stellate-tomentose and paler 

 beneath : petioles of the lower leaves as long as the blades or longer : racemes 1-3 cm. 

 long, with loose purplisii tinged tomentum : flowers monoecious ; staminate short-pedicelled ; 

 sepals 5, oval, nearly equal"; petals 5, spatulate, ciliate ; stamens 7-12 ; filaments pubes- 

 cent below ; pistillate flowers usually clustered below the staminate ; sepals 6-8, oblong to 

 oblanceolate ; petals wanting ; styles 3, 2-3 times 2-cleft, 5-6 mm. long : capsules globular, 

 7-9 mm. long, slightly shorter than the accrescent sepals : seeds suborbicular, much swollen, 

 5 mm. long. 



In dry soil. New Jersey to Iowa, Georgia and Texas. 



14. Croton Engelmdnnii Ferguson. Annual, 5-20 dm. tall, densely stellate-tomen- 

 tose, the branches approximate or umbellate above. Leaf-blades lanceolate, sometimes 

 broadly so, those of the lower leaves 10-20 cm. long, those of the upper much shorter, 

 acute or somewhat acuminate, often shallowly and unevenly toothed, rounded or usually 

 cordate at the base : petioles of the lower leaves about as long as the blades,_ those of the 

 upper shorter: racemes more or less interrupted, 5-15 cm. long, with yellow-tinged tomen- 

 tum : flowers monoecious ; staminate distinctly pedicelled ; sepals ovate, acute ; petals spatu- 

 late, ciliate ; stamens 9-12 ; filaments stellate-pubescent below : pistillate flowers usually 3, 

 short-pedicelled; sepals 7-8, acuminate, the inner ones smaller; petals wanting ; styles 

 3, twice 2-cleft, 6-10 mm. long : capsules depressed, 6-8 mm. long : seeds oval-orbicular, 

 4.5-5 mm. long. 



In dry soil, Georgia to Arkansas and Texas.— A larger, stouter and more branched form, with 

 broadly ovate lower leaf-blades and white pubescence, is C. Engelmannii albinoides Ferguson ; it ranges 

 from the Indian Territory to Texas and New Mexico. 



15. Croton Ellldttii Chapm. Annual, 5-9 dm. tall, the stem scabrous below, stellate- 

 pubescent above, repeatedly branched, the branches approximate. Leaf-blades linear or 

 linear-lanceolate, 4-5 cm. long, or shorter above, entire, usually blunt, 3-nerved at the 

 narrowed base, velvety stellate above, gray-tomentose beneath, slender-petioled : racemes 

 1-2 cm. long : flowers monoecious ; staminate short-pedicelled ; sepals 5, narrowly oblong ; 

 petals linear, ciliate ; stamens 8-10 : pistillate flowers clustered ; sepals 6-7, unequal ; 



