1. Phyllanthus caroliniensis Walt. 



Glabrous erect annual monoecious herb 1.3 dm. high; branches terete to some- 

 what compressed but not winged; leaves distichous, "elliptic to obovate, obtuse or 

 rounded and sometimes apiculate at the tip, acute at the base, 5-20 (-30) mm. 

 long, 4-10 (-13) mm. broad; stipules lanceolate, acuminate, basally denticulate, 

 (0.5-) 0.8-1.3 mm. long; most axils in all axes floriferous; cymules bisexual, with 

 1 or 2 male and 1 or 2 female flowers; male flowers with pedicels 0.5-1 mm. long; 

 calyx lobes 6 (rarely 5), oblong to ovate or suborbicular, 0.5-0.8 mm. long; disk 

 segments 6 (5), more or less cuneate; stamens 3; filaments free, 0.2-0.3 mm. long; 

 anthers dehiscing transversely, about 0.3 mm. broad; female flowers with pedicels 

 becoming geniculate-reflexed and 0.5-1 (-1.5) mm. long; calyx lobes 6 (rarely 5), 

 linear-lanceolate to narrowly spatulate, greenish or reddish, with unbranched mid- 

 rib, 0.7-1.2 (-1.4) mm. long; disk patelliform, entire or nearly so; ovary smooth; 

 styles nearly free, spreading, bifid, 0.3 mm. long or less, style branches obtuse or 

 subcapitate; capsules oblate, 1.7-1.9 mm. in diameter; seeds fuscous-brown, verru- 

 culose (with verrucae in wavy lines), 0.8-1 mm. long. 



In moist or wet alluvial soils and gravel bars along streams, wet thickets, 

 marshes, wet depressions and river floodplains in e. and n.e. Tex. (from Tarrant 

 and Harris cos. eastw.), June-Nov.; 111. and Pa., s. to Arg. and Urug. 



2. Phyllanthus pudens Wheeler. 



Erect annual monoecious herb 2-5 dm. high; stems compressed and distinctly 

 but narrowly winged; scabridulous; leaves distichous, oblong or elliptic, acute or 

 obtuse and apiculate at the tip, obtuse to rounded at the base, 1-2 cm. long, 3-10 

 mm. broad; stipules ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, basally more or less denticulate, 

 1.2-2 mm. long; most axils on all axes floriferous; cymules bisexual, with 1 to 3 

 male and 1 or 2 (rarely 3) female flowers; male flowers with pedicels about 0.5 

 mm. long; calyx lobes 5 or 6, ovate, 0.5-0.7 mm. long; disk segments 5 or 6, sub- 

 orbicular or cuneate; stamens 3; filaments completely united into a column 0.2-0.3 

 mm. high; anthers dehiscing horizontally, about 0.25 mm. broad; female flowers 

 with pedicels becoming geniculate-reflexed and (1-) 1.4-2.2 mm. long; calyx lobes 

 6 (rarely 5), oblong to ovate, often reddish at base, herbaceous with unbranched 

 midrib, 0.7-1.2 mm. long; disk patelliform, 6-angled, entire; ovary smooth; styles 

 horizontal, bifid, basally fused into a triangular platform 0.5-0.6 mm. across, style 

 branch tips subcapitate; capsules oblate, sometimes reddish-tinged, 2.9-3.2 mm. in 

 diameter; seeds yellowish- to fuscous-brown, verruculose (with verrucae in irregu- 

 lar wavy lines), 1.2-1.5 mm. long. 



Coastal prairies, mainly in wet depressions of river bottomlands and marshy 

 areas, from Matagorda Co. to Chambers Co. and eastw. in Tex., May-Nov.; also 

 s. La. 



2. Caperonia St.-Hil. 



A tropical genus of about 40 species, of which we have one. 



1. Caperonia palustris (L.) St.-Hil. Fig. 509. 



Annual herb, (2-) 3-10 dm. tall, stout, mostly simple in the lower half, with 

 few ascending branches above, the upper stem and branches with spreading whitish 

 occasionally gland-tipped hairs; leaves alternate; blades broadly lanceolate or 

 elliptic-lanceolate, (3-) 5-15 cm. long, serrate, with numerous closely parallel 

 secondary nerves ending at the marginal teeth, the tertiaries percurrent; petioles 

 3-25 mm. long, pubescent like the adjacent stem; stipules triangular to subulate, 

 3-5 mm. long; flowers in lax secund androgynous spikes in the upper axils, the 

 peduncles about half as long as the leaves; each flower subtended by a minute 



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