422 



EUPHORBIA CEAE 



Locs. — Cottonwood Spr., Jepson 12,594; San Bernardino foothills, Parish 842; Redlands, 

 B. J. Smith; Beaumont, Gilvxan; San Jacinto, Gregory; Coyote Caiion, Santa Rosa Mts., Hall 

 2837; betw. Cahuilla Valley and Aguanga, Jepson 1482; Dehesa, San Diego Co., T. Brandegee; 

 Mason Valley, e. San Diego Co., Jepson 8644. 



Var. paucidentata Jepson. Leaf -blades Avith 2 or 3 setaceous teeth on each side near the 

 base; seeds slightly carunculate. — Dry plains, 2000 to 3000 feet: Mohave Desert; Inyo Co. 



Locs. — Victorville, Loughridge ; Kramer, Jepson 5327; Barstow, Jepson 5825; Searles Lake, 

 Inyo Co., Jepson 7151; Little Owens Lake (Contrib. U. S. Nat. Herb. 4:195). 



Refs. — Stillingia linearifolia Wats. Proc. Am. Acad. 14:297 (1879), type loc. Boundary 

 Monument, San Diego, Palmer 449; Jepson, Man. 598 (1925). S. gymnogyna Pax & Hoff m. ; 

 Engler, Pflzr. 4'""*: 196 (1912). Var. paucidentata Jepson, I.e. S. paucidentata Wats. l.«. 298, 

 type loc. Colorado Valley near mouth of Williams River, Ariz., Palmer 517. 



2. S. spinulosa Torr. (Fig. 220.) Tufted annual or perennial, 3 to 6 inches 

 high; leaf-blades ovate, spinulose-serrate, acuminate, 1 to 1^2 inches long, nar- 

 rowed to a short petiole; spikes mostly axillary; glands at base of bracts somewhat 

 trumpet-shaped. 



Desert mesas or washes, 50 to 2500 feet: Mohave Desert; Colorado Desert. 

 Mar.-May. 



Locs. — Mohave Desert: Danby, T. Brandegee ; Lavic, 

 Jepson 15,478; Daggett, K. Brandegee. Colorado Desert: 

 McCoy Wash, Eall 5927; Conchilla Desert, Jepson 6058; 

 Borrego Spr., Jepson 8880. 



Refs. — Stillingia spinulosa Torr. ; Emory, Notes Mil. 

 Rec. 152 (1848), type loc. desert west of the Colorado River, 

 Emory. Sapium annvum Torr. Bot. Mex. Bound. 201 (1859), 

 desert west of the Colorado River, Emory, and near Ft. 

 Yuma, Scliott. Stillingia annua Muell. Arg. ; DC. Prod. 15": 

 1160 (1866) ; Jepson, Man. 598 (1925). 



. . 10. TRAGIA L. 



Perennial herbs. Stems slender, wiry, beset 

 with stinging hairs. Leaves small, coarsely toothed, 

 short-petioled. Flowers monoecious, in small clus- 

 ters at the ends of the branches. Staminate flower : 

 sepals 3 to 5; stamens commonly 3 (4 to 6) . Pistil- 

 late flower: sepals 5 (or 6) ; ovary with one ovule 

 in each cell. — Species about 100, all continents save 

 Europe, but chiefly in the tropics or subtropics. 

 (Dedicated to the German herbalist Hieronymus 

 Bock, 1498-1554, his surname latinized as Tragus, 

 goat.) 



1. T. ramosa Torr. Stems several to many, 

 erect, little branched, 6 to 12 inches high; herbage 

 hirsute; leaf -blades lanceolate, sharply serrate, 6 

 to 11 lines long, the petioles I/2 to 2 lines long; stamens 4 or 5; capsule hirsute. 



Dry hills, 4000 to 6000 feet : Providence Mts. East to Missouri and Texas. 



Refs. — Tragia ramosa Torr. Ann. Lye. New York 2:245 (1828), type loc. near or on head- 

 waters of the Canadian River (probably northern New Mexico), James; Jepson, Man. 1170 (1925). 



Fig. 220. Stillingia spinulosa 

 Torr. o, habit, X % ; 6, staminate 

 tnfl., X 2; c, staminate fl., X 8; 

 d, pistillate fl., X 3. 



11. MERCURIALIS L. 



Erect herbs with opposite leaves. Flowers small, green, mostly dioecious, in 

 little axillary clusters, the pistillate clusters sessile or subsessile, the staminate clus- 

 ters on peduncles. Calyx 3-parted. Corolla none. Staminate flowers with 8 to 

 20 stamens. Pistillate flowers with a 2-celled, 2-lobed ovary, 2 styles and 1, 2 or 

 3 sterile filaments. Capsule 2-celled, the cells 1-seeded. — Species 7, Europe, Asia 

 and Africa. ( Of the god Mercury. ) 



