SPURGE FAMILY 29 



3-6-parted calyx; stamens 1 to many. Pistillate flowers 3-6-parted or rarely 8-parted; 

 calyx-segments in ours entire. Ovary 3-celled, 1 ovule in each cell; styles 3. Capsule 

 3-lobed, splittincj into 3 bivalved carpels. [From Tragus, Latin name of Hieronymus 

 Bock, German herbalist.] 



About 125 species, natives of the tropical regions of the eastern hemisphere and tropical and temperate 



regions of the western hemisphere. Type species, Tragia volubilis L. 



L Tragia stylaris Muell. Arg. Desert Tragia. Fig. 3028. 



Tragia stylaris Muell. Arg. Linnaea 34: 180. 1865. 



Slender, erect, much-branched herb arising from a woody caudex. Leaves with short petioles 

 lanceolate to triangular-lanceolate, serrate, sparsely hispid with stinging hairs ; inflorescence 5-lS 

 mm. long, pistillate flower at base of raceme or absent ; staminate flowers 2)-7 ; staminate bracts 

 about 1 mm. long, equaling or shorter than first joint of pedicel; pistillate sepals 1 mm. long; 

 ovary densely hairy, stigmas divided to base, about 3 mm. long, somewhat roughened ; staminate 

 sepals 2.5 mm. long, broadly lanceolate, recurved in anthesis ; stamens 4-5, filaments clavate, 

 shorter than the sepals ; capsules 3-lobed, pubescent, 5-6 mm. broad ; seeds globose, brown, often 

 mottled. 



Dry desert slopes, Upper Sonoran Zone; southwestern Nevada south through eastern California and east to 

 Texas. Type locality: New Mexico. May-July. 



8. STILLINGIA L. Mant. 19. 1767. 



Glabrous herbs or shrubs with alternate or rarely opposite, entire or toothed leaves, 

 often with 2 glands at the base. Flowers apetalous, monoecious, in terminal or axillary 

 bracteolate spikes, the bractlets 2-glandular. Staminate flowers several together or solitary 

 in the axils of the bractlets; calyx entire or lobate; stamens 2-3, exserted. Pistillate 

 flowers solitary in the axils of bracts ; calyx 3-parted or none. Ovary 1 in each cell, styles 

 3-parted usually to the base. Capsule 2-3-lobed, separating into 2-3 bivalved carpels, in 

 ours breaking away from the persistent 3-lobed gynophore. Seeds ovoid or subglobose, 

 carunculate or ecarunculate. [Name in honor of Benjamin Stillingfleet, English botanist.] 



Species about 15, natives of North and South America, Madagascar and the islands of the Pacific. Type 

 species, Stillingia sylvatica L. 



Leaves ovate, spinulose-serrate throughout; inflorescence much shorter than the leaves. 



1. 6". spinulosa. 

 Leaves linear, entire or with occasional spinulose teeth; inflorescence as long as or much surpassing the leaves. 



Spikes of the inflorescence dense, staminate portion in anthesis 5-6.5 mm. broad; leaves crowded. 



2. 5'. paiicidentata. 

 Spikes of the inflorescence open, lax, staminate portion in anthesis 3-4 mm. broad; leaves not crowded. 



3. .?. linearifolia. 



1. Stillingia spinulosa Torr. Annual Stillingia. Fig. 3029. 



Stillingia spinulosa Torr. in Emory, Notes Mil. Rec. 152. 1848. 

 Sapiitm amiuum Torr. Bot. Mex. Bound. 201. 1858 

 Stillingia annua Muell. Arg. in A. DC. Prod. 15^: 1160. 1866. 



Tufted, glabrous, leafy winter annual, branching from the base, 5-35 cm. high. Leaves ovate, 

 attenuate at the base, decurrent on the petiole, margin spinulose-toothed, prominently 3-veined 

 beneath, 1.5-5 cm. long; inflorescence of many short bracteate spikes 0.5-2 cm. long, mostly 

 shorter than the leaves, each bract subtending but 1 flower ; staminate calyx shallowly and irreg- 

 ularly lobed, 1.3 mm. long, the subtending bract acuminate, dentate, scarcely as long as the 

 narrow stalked glands ; stamens 2, 2 mm. long, anthers divergent ; pistillate flowers 1-2 at the 

 base of the spike ; pistillate perianth none, bracts and glands like those of the staminate flowers ; 

 capsule 4-5 mm. high, central column very fragile, usually breaking off with the dehiscence of 

 the capsule; seeds 3 mm. long, mostly ecarunculate. 



Open sandy deserts and dry washes, Lower Sonoran Zone; Death Valley region of California and adjacent 

 Nevada south to Imperial County, California, and east to southwestern Arizona. Type locality: banks of the 

 Gila, Arizona. March-June. 



2. Stillingia paucidentata S. Wats. Mojave Stillingia. Fig. 3030. 



Stillingia paucidentata S. Wats. Proc. Amer. Acad. 14:298. 1879. 



Glabrous plant from a perennial root with stems simple or much-branched above, 2-3.5 dm. 

 tall. Leaves many, crowded on the upper part of the stem, linear, attenuate at the apex, with 

 occasioral spinulose teeth on the margin, 3-8 cm. long ; inflorescence of many bracteate spikes, 

 these at flowering as long as or longer than the subtending leaves ; staminate flowers many, 

 crowded; calyx irregularly 2-lobed, 1.5 mm. long, the subtending bract acuminate, shorter than 

 the calyx ; the 2 glands large, nearly sessile, rarely a third gland present; stamens 2, 3-3.2 mm. 

 long ; pistillate flowers 3-9, crowded at the base of the spike ; pistillate perianth none, bracts and 

 glands as in staminate flowers ; capsule 3 . 5-4 mm. high, the column of the gynophore usually 

 persistent after dehiscence. 



Open desert slopes. Lower Sonoran Zone; southern Inyo County south to Riverside and Los Angeles Coun- 

 ties, California, and east to the Colorado River, Arizona. Type locality: "Colorado Valley near the mouth of 

 the Williams River," Arizona. March-June. 



