24 EUPHORBIACEAE 



separating- in age from the central column. Seeds shining, strophiolate, 1-2 in each cell. 

 [Name Greek, meaning four and fruit.] 



A genus of S species, natives of Mexico and southwestern United States. Type species, Tctracoccus 

 dioicus Parry. 



Capsule 4-celled; branches not rigidly divaricate. 



Leaves linear, entire. !• ^- ^*^''^'**; 



Leaves ovate, margins toothed. 2. T. ilicifohus. 



Capsule usually 3-celled; branches rigidly divaricate. 3. T. Hallii. 



1. Tetracoccus dioicus Parry. Parry's Tetracoccus. Fig. 3016. 



Tetracoccus dioicus Parry, W. Amer. Sci. 1: 13. 1885. 



Tetracoccus Engelmannii S. Wats. Proc. Amer. Acad. 20: 373. 1885. 



Erect branching shrub, 0.5-3 m. high, with slender grayish branches and reddish branchlets. 

 Leaves linear, 1 . 5-3 cm. long, cuneate or rounded at the base, subsessile or with a short petiole ; 

 staminate inflorescence reddish, of axillary clusters shorter than the leaves, the flowers 2-8, on 

 slender pedicels 0.5-8 mm. long; staminate calyx 1 mm. long; stamens 3^.5 mm. long, the 

 filaments hairy ; pistillate flowers solitary, pedicellate, the calyx 2.5-5 mm. long ; capsule 4-lobed, 

 8-10 mm. long ; seeds smooth. 



In chaparral. Upper Sonoran Zone; western San Diego County. California, south to northern Lower Cali- 

 fornia. Type locality: Table Mountain, Lower California. March-April. 



2. Tetracoccus ilicifolius Cov. & Gilman. Holly-leaved Tetracoccus or Shrubby 



Spurge. Fig. 3017. 



Tetracoccus ilicifolius Cov. & Gilman, Journ. Wash. Acad. 26: 531. 1936. 



Branched shrub, 0.3-1.3 m. high with gray glabrous branches. Leaves subsessile, coriaceous, 

 ovate, the margins more or less toothed, pilose with brownish hairs when young, becoming 

 glabrate; staminate inflorescence pedunculate, hairy, the flowers many, clustered in the axils 

 of bracts ; stamens 7-9 ; pistillate flowers solitary in the axils of the leaves ; pedicels 8-10 mm. 

 long, persistent ; capsule glabrous, 4-celled, 7-8 mm. long ; seeds smooth. 



In canyons. Lower Sonoran Zone; Grapevine and Panamint Mountains, Inyo County, California. Type 

 locality: Grapevine Mountains. April- June. 



3. Tetracoccus Hallii Brandg. Hall's Shrubby Spurge or 

 Purple-bush. Fig. 3018. 



Tetracoccus Hallii Brandg. Zoe S: 229. 1906. 



Securinegea Hallii I. M. Johnston, Univ. Calif. Pub. Bot. 7: 442. 1922. 

 Securinegea fasciculata van Hallii Jepson, Man. Fl. PI. Calif. 595. 1925. 

 Halliophytum Hallii I. M. Johnston, Contr. Gray Herb. No. 68: 88. 1923. 



Divaricately branching, grayish-stemmed shrubs with spinescent twigs, 0.5-2 ni. high. Leaves 

 glabrate, many, fasciculate, oblanceolate, 4-10 mm. long ; staminate flowers several in leaf-axils, 

 with slender pedicels 4-6 mm. long; sepals 6, less than 0.5 mm. long; pistillate flowers solitary, 

 sessile or with stout pedicels 2-3 mm. long; stamens 4-6, filaments free, 1.5-2 mm. long; capsule 

 pubescent when young, globose-oblong, 6-8 mm. long. 



On dry slopes. Lower Sonoran Zone; Colorado Desert, California, and adjacent Arizona. Type locality: 

 Chuckwalla Bench, Riverside County, California. April-May. 



2. EREMOCArPUS Benth. Bot. Sulph. 53. 1844. 



Stellate-pubescent glandular and heavy-scented annual herbs, with alternate, entire, 

 3-nerved, petiolate, exstipulate leaves, and monoecious apetalous flowers in axillary cymes. 

 Calyx 5-6-parted, slightly imbricate in the staminate flowers, wanting in the pistillate. 

 Stamens 6-7, central on the hairy receptacle ; filaments exserted. Ovary with 4-5 small 

 glands at the base, 1-celled, 1-ovuled; style simple, filiform, stigmatic at the apex. Cap- 

 sule obovoid-oblong, 2-valved. Seed smooth and shining; endosperm fleshy. [Name 

 Greek, meaning solitary fruit.] 



Monotypic genus of western America. Type species, Croton setigerus Hook. 



1. Eremocarpus setigerus (Hook.) Benth. Turkey Mullein. Fig. 3019. 



Croton setigerus Hook. Fl. Bor. Amer. 2: 141. 1838. 

 Eremocarpus setigerus Benth. Bot. Sulph. 53. 1844. 

 Piscaria setigera Piper, Contr. U.S. Nat. Herb. 11: 352. 1906. 



Annual, strong-scented herbs, 0.5-2 dm. high, dichotomously branching from the base, forming 

 mats, herbage densely stellate-pubescent throughout with simple spreading hispid hairs on stems 

 and leaf-margins. Leaves ovate to rhombic-ovate, 1.5-5 cm. long, on slender petioles about the 

 same length, crowded at the ends of the branches ; pistillate flowers 1-3, sessile, in axils of upper 

 branches, without calyx; staminate flowers 1.2-2 mm. long on slender pedicels 3 mm. long; 



