700 EUPHORBIACEAE 



short spur-like pubescent branchlets ; blades cuneate or obovate-cuneate, 1.5-3 cm. long, 

 3-nerved, nearly sessile : pistillate flowers few, each terminating a pubescent pedicel arising 

 from a leaf-cluster : sepals 5, lanceolate, pubescent : stamens 10 : capsules depressed, 3- 

 lobed, about 6 mm. long, 9-10 mm. broad, sometimes slightly granular : seeds broadly 

 ovoid, about 4 mm. long. 



In dry grounds, southern Texas. Spring and summer. 



10. BERNARDIA P. Br. 



Monoecious or dioecious shrubs or rarely herbs, the foliage pubescent with simple or 

 stellate hairs. Leaves alternate : blades toothed or rarely entire. Flowers inconspicuous, 

 apetalous, the staminate with 3 or 4 partially united valvate sepals. Stamens 3-20 : fila- 

 ments often accompanied by small glands : anthers erect or rarely nodding. Pistillate 

 flowers with a calyx of 6 or sometimes 5-9 sepals. Ovary 3-celled : styles 3, short : stigmas 

 2-cleft, in our species. Ovules solitary in each cavity. Capsule 3-lobed. Seed with a 

 crustaceous testa. 



1. Bemardia myiicaefolia (Scheele) S. Wats. An irregularly branched shrub 8-30 

 dm. tall, the foliage gray-green, sometimes densely pubescent. Leaf-blades oblong, 

 cuneate, or sometimes broadest below the middle, 1-5 cm. long, repand-dentate, rather 

 prominently nerved, short-petioled : sepals obovate, ovate, oval or oblong : capsules de- 

 pressed, about 1 cm. broad, more or less densely pubescent, 3-lobed, the lobes rounded : 

 seeds oval-globose, 6-7 mm. long, nearly smooth. 



On prairies or mountain slopes, Texas and New Mexico. Spring to fall. 



11. ACALYPHA L. 



Annual or perennial monoecious caulescent herbs or shrubs. Leaves alternate : blades 



^ntire or toothed, petioled : stipules present. Flowers in axillary and terminal spikes or 



spike-like racemes, apetalous : staminate cluster peduncled, each flower in the axil of a 



minute bractlet, with a calyx of 4 sepals, and 8-16 stamens united by their bases. Pistillate 



flowers subtended by a foliaceous bract which often equals or overtops the staminate : calyx 



of 3-5 sepals. Ovary 3-celled : stigmas fringed. Capsule usually of 3 2-valved carpels, 



each 1-seeded. The plants flower from spring to fall, or throughout the year in the South. 



Three-seeded Mercury. 



Staminate and pistillate flowers in the same spike. 

 Plants perennial. 



Stems wire-like : seeds barely 1 mm. long. 1. A. corrhorifolia. 



Stems relatively stout : seeds 1.5 mm. long. 2. A. Lindheimeri. 



Plants annual. 



Foliage not glandular : bracts usually surpassing the spikes. 3. A. Virginica. 



Foliage glandular : bracts usually shorter than the spikes. 4. A. gracilens. 



Staminate and pistillate flowers in separate spikes. 

 Flowers mainly dioecious. 



Foliage villous : leaf-blades cleft. 5. A. radians. 



Foliage closely puberulent pubescent : leaf -blades crenate. 6. A. hederacea. 



Flowers monoecious. V. A. ostryaefolia. 



1. Acalypha corchorifolia Willd. Perennial, pubescent, but not conspicuously so. 

 Stems tufted, and often branched at the base, the branches spreading or decumbent, 5-20 

 cm. long, rigid, wire-like, often irregularly bent : leaf-blades leathery, ovate or oblong- 

 lanceolate, 7-20 mm. long, crenate-serrate, truncate or subcordate at the base, short-petioled : 

 spikes mostly terminal ; the staminate very slender, all parts minute : pistillate spikes stout, 

 below the staminate : bracts 5-6 mm. long, coarsely 6-12-toothed : capsules fully 1 mm. 

 long, glabrous or nearly so : seeds barely 1 mm. long, smooth. 



In sand, peninsular Florida and the Keys. 



2. Acalypha Lindheimeri Muell. Arg. Perennial, more or less hirsute. Stems 

 tufted, ascending or decumbent, 1-4 dm. long, simple or branched : leaf-blades ovate to 

 lanceolate, more or less distinctly rhombic, or suborbicular at the base of the stem, 1.5-4 

 cm. long, acute or acutish, serrate, slightly inequilateral at the base, short-petioled : spikes 

 erect, 3-10 cm. long ; staminate portion very slender, all parts minute ; pistillate portion 

 conspicuously bracted : bracts 4-6 mm. long, several-cleft, the segments acute : capsules 2 

 mm. long, glabrous : seeds globose-ovoid, 1.5 mm. long, minutely pitted in lines. 



In dry soil, Texas to Arizona and adjacent Mexico. 



3. Acalyphia Virginica L. Annual, dark green or becoming purplish, somewhat 

 pubescent. Stem erect or ascending, 1-7 dm. tall : leaf-blades ovate or elliptic, 2-10 cm. 



