406 EUPHORBIACE^. (sPURGE FAJIILY.) 



Fields and around dwellings, Florida, and northward. July - Sept. — Stem 

 1°- 2° hi;,'h. Leaves, with the petiole, 4' -5' long. 



2. A. gracilens, Gray. Annual, downy ; stem slender, erect or ascend- 

 ing; leaves short-petioled, huiccolatc, obscurely serrate or entire; staminate 

 spikes mostly many-Huwcred and longer tlian the ovate-serrate or toothed 

 bracts, with 1-3 pistillate flowers at the base ; capsule hairy. — Sterile soil, 

 Florida, and northward. July - Sept. — Stem 6'- 18' high. Leaves I'-l^' 

 long. 



3. A. corchorifolia, Willd. Perennial ; stems several from a thick and 

 woody root, ])rostrate, jiubcscent, simple or sparingly branched ; leaves short- 

 petioled, ovate and oblong, obtuse, crcnatc, hairy ; pistillate flowers numerous, 

 crowded at the base of the slender staminate spike, each surrounded by a 

 round-ovate hairy toothed bract ; capsule bristly; seed ovoid, smooth. — South 

 Florida. — Stems 4' - 6' long. Leaves rigid, 6" - 8" long. Spikes mostly 

 terminal. 



* * Stujninate and pistillate flowers on separate spikes. 



4. A. Caroliniana, Walt. Annual ; stem erect, much branched, pubes- 

 cent ; leaves thin, smooth, cordate-ovate, sharply serrate, long-petiokd ; stami- 

 nate spike lateral, small, the minute white flowers pedicelled ; pistillate spike 

 terminal, stout, many-flowered ; bracts cut into several subulate lobes ; capsule 

 bristly ; seeds silvery, pitted. — Cultivated ground, Florida to Mississippi, and 

 northward. July - Sept. — Stem 1° - 2° high. Leaves 2' - 3' long. 



6. TRAGIA, Plum. 



Flowers monoecions, apetalous, in slender racemes. Sterile flowers few or 

 numerous, caducous. Calyx 3-4-parted. Stamens 2-4, with short and sepa- 

 rate filaments. Fertile flowers few or solitary at the base of the raceme. Calyx 

 5 - 8-parted. Style 3-cleft : stigmas entire. Capsule bristly, of three globose 

 1-celled, 1-seeded, 2-valved caq)els. — Pubescent or bristly herbs, with watery 

 juice. Leaves alternate. Racemes opposite the leaves and tenninal. Bracts 

 small, entire, persistent. Flowers minute, greenish. 



1. T. urens, L. Low, downy or hairy; stem at length much branched; 

 leaves nearly sessile, varying from broadly ovate or oblong-ovate, and serrate or 

 toothed throughout, or only at the apex, to linear and entire, obtuse, paler be- 

 neath ; racemes shorter than the leaves and few-flowered, or elongated and 

 many-flowered. (T. lincarifolia. Ell., the narrow-leaved form.) — Dry sandy 

 soil, Florida, and northward. May -Aug. y. — Stem 6'- 12' high Leaves 

 l'-2' long. 



2. T. urticifolia, Michx. Bristly, with stinging hairs ; stem erect, spar- 

 ingly branched ; leaves j)etioled, deltoid-ovate or oblong, coarsely serrate, trun- 

 cate or cordate at the broad base, pale beneath , racemes shorter than the leaves, 

 the sterile flowers somewhat crowded ; capsule very bristly — Dry soil, Florida 

 to North Carolina, and westward. June -Sept. IJ. — Stems l°-2° high' 

 Leaves l'-2' long. 



