406 EUPIIORDIACEJE. (SPURGE FAMILY.) 



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

 l°-2° high. Leaves, with the petiole, 4' -5' long. 



2. A. gracilens, Gray. Annual, downy ; stem Blender, erect or asc-end- 

 ingj leaves Bhort-petioled, lanceolate, ohseurely sen-ate or entire; staniinate 

 spikes mostly many-flowered and longer than the ovate-senate or toothed 

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

 Florida, ami northward. July - Sept. — Stem 6'- 18' high. Leaves I'-lJ' 

 long. 



3. A. COrchorifolia, Willd. Perennial; stems several from a thick ami 

 woody root, prostrate, pubescent, simple or sparingly branched ; leaves Bhort- 

 petioled, ovate ami oblong, obtuse, crenate, hairy ; pistillate tlowers numerous, 

 crowded at the hase of the slender staniinate 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 



* * Staniinate and pistillate floivers on separate spikes. 



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

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



pike 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 l°-2°high. Leaves 2' -3' long. 



6. TRAGIA, Plum. 



Flowers monoecious, apctalous, 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-partcd. Style 3-cleft : stigmas entire. Capsule bristly, of three globose 

 1 -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, greenish. 



1. T. UreilS, L. Low, downy or hairy; stein at length much branched; 



n ssUe, 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 ami few-flowered, or elongated and 

 many-flowered. (T. Linearifolia, A'//., the narrow-leaved form.) — Dry Bandy 



soil, Florida, ami northward. May -Aug. y.— Stem G'- 12' high I. 

 l'-2' long. 



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

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



r cordate si 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. 1J.— Steins l°-2° high. 

 1. . I ' - i' long. 



