Vor. II.] SPURGE FAMILY. 365 
2. Ditaxis humilis (Engelm. & Gray) Pax. Low Ditaxis. (Fig. 2296.) 
Aphora humilis Engelm. & Gray, Bost. Journ. 
Nat. Hist. 5: 262. 1847. 
Argyrothamnia humilis Muell. Arg. Linnaea, 
34:147. 1865. 
Ditaxis humilis Pax in Engl. & Prantl, Nat. Pfl. 
Fam. 3: Abt. 5, 45. 1890. , 
Stem slender, much branched, pubescent, 
the branches spreading, 4’-1° long. Leaves 
alternate, ovate, oblong, obovate or oblanceo- 
late, 5’/-15’’ long, entire, narrowed into a 
short petiole; flowers in axillary clusters; 
staminate flowers with petals a little longer 
than the 5 calyx-segments and longer than 
the lobes of the disk; pistillate flowers with a 
5-parted calyx and 3 styles each usually twice 
2-cleft; capsule short-pedicelled, much de- 
pressed, 2’/-3// in diameter, 3-4-lobed; seeds 
oval-globose, about 1’’ long, muricate. 
Prairies, Kansas to Louisiana and Texas. 
March-Sept. 
5. ACALYPHA L,. Sp. Pl. 1003. 1753. 
Herbs or shrubs, our species annual, monoecious. Stems mostly erect and branched. 
Leaves alternate, entire or toothed, petioled, stipulate. Flowers in axillary and terminal 
spikes or spike-like racemes, the staminate cluster peduncled, each flower in the axil of a 
minute bractlet, with a 4-parted calyx and 8-16 stamens united at their bases. Pistillate 
flowers subtended by a foliaceous bract which often equals or overtops the staminate, the 
calyx 3-5-parted, ovary 3-celled; stigmas fringed; petals wanting in both kinds of flowers; 
capsule usually of 3 2-valved carpels, each 1-seeded. [Greek, nettle. ] 
About 230 species, mostly tropical and subtropical. 
Staminate and pistillate flowers in separate spikes or racemes; capsule spiny. 1. A. ostryaefolia. 
Staminate and pistillate flowers in the same spike or raceme; capsule smooth. 
Plant not glandular; bract palmately many-lobed, equalling or exceeding the staminate spike. 
2. A. Virgintca. 
Plant glandular; bract many-cleft, shorter than the staminate spike. 3. A. gracilens. 
1. Acalypha ostryaefolia Ridd. 
Hornbeam ‘Three-seeded Mer- 
cury. (Fig. 2297.) 
Acalypha Caroliniana Ell. Bot. S. C. & Ga. 2: 
645. 1824. Not Walt. 1788. 
Acalypha ostryaefolia Riddell, Syn. Fl. W. 
States, 33. 1835. 
Dark green, minutely pubescent. Stem 
erect, rather stout, simple or branched, 1° 
24° tall. Leaves thin, or membranous, 
ovate, 214’-4’ long, short-acuminate, serrate, 
obtuse or cordate at the base, the petioles 
often as long as the blades; staminate and 
pistillate flowers in separate spikes, the 
bractlets of the staminate minute, those of 
the pistillate conspicuous, lobed; capsule 
much depressed, 3-lobed, 114//-2/’ in diame- 
ter, spiny; seeds ovoid, 1’’ long, wrinkled. 
New Jersey to Kansas, Florida and Mexico. 
June-Noy. 
