EUPHOKBIACE.E. (sPURGE FAMILY.) 429 



7. TRAGIA, Plum. 



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

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

 separate 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 l-celled, 1-seeded, 2-valved carpels. — Pubescent or bristly herbs, with 

 watery juice. Leaves alternate. Racemes opposite the leaves and terminal. 

 Bracts small, entire, persistent. Flowers minute, green i,sh. 



1. T. innocua, Walt. Low, do^vny or hairy; stem at length much 

 branched ; leaves nearly sessile, varying from broadly ovate, and serrate or 

 toothed throughout, or only at the apex, to linear and entire ; racemes shorter 

 than the leaves and few-flowered, or elongated and many-flowered. — Dry 

 sandy soil, Florida, and northward. May- August. 2/ — Stem 6'- 12' hi^h. 

 Leaves l'-2' long. 



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

 sparingly branched ; leaves petioled, deltoid-ovate or oblong, coarsely serrate, 

 truncate or cordate at the broad base, pale beneath ; racemes shorter than the 

 leaves, the sterile flowers somewhat crowded ; capsule very bristly. — Dry 

 soil. June- Sept. 2/ — Stems 1°- 2° high. Leaves 1' - 2' long. 



3. T. macrocarpa, Willd. Hirsute; stem twining (2°-4° long); 

 leaves ample, tliiu, cordate, coarsely and sharply serrate, long-petioled ; 

 racemes shorter than the leaves; capsule large. — Florida, Tennessee, and 

 westward. 



8. MERCURIALIS, Tourn. 



Flowers dicecious, apetalous, in axillary spikes or clusters. Calyx 3-parted. 

 Stamens 8-20, distinct. Styles 2, simple, united at base. Capsule 2-celled, 

 2-seeded. 



1. M, annua, L. Smooth, branching (l°higli); leaves ovate-lanceolate, 

 crenate-toothed ; sterile spike longer than the leaves ; fertile flowers clustered ; 

 capsule hi.spid. — Waste places, sparingly naturalized. 



9. CROTON, L. 



Flowers monoecious, in spikes or racemes. Calyx of the sterile flowers 4 - 

 6-cleft or 4-6-parted. Petals 4-6 (wanting in No. 1). Stamens 5-20, dis- 

 tinct : anthers erect, introrse. Glands as many as the calyx lobes and oppo- 

 site them. Fertile flowers at the base of the sterile spike. Calyx 5 - 8-cleft 

 or 5 - 8-parted. Petals minute or wanting. Styles 2-3, once to thrice 2-cleft. 

 Capsule of 3 (rarely 1-2) l-celled, 1-seeded, 2-valved carpels. Glands as 

 many as the calyx lobes or none. — Herbs or shrubs, with watery juice, stel- 

 late pubescence, and alternate petioled leaves. Flowers terminal, and at the 

 divisions of tbe stem. 



* Styles simple: sterile and fertile flowers 5-petalled : stamens numerous. 



1. C. Alabamensis, E. A. Smith. Stem tall, woody, much branched ; 

 leaves thin, short-petioled, oblong-lanceolate, mostly obtuse, smooth or nearly 

 so above, the lower surface, like the branchlets and racemes, coated with sil- 

 very scales; racemes often unisexual, few- or many-flowered; calyx lobes 5, 



