CXV. EUPHORBIACE^. 563 



XoNKAN : JDalzelll; Konkan hills, Graham; Suvantvadi, JDahell S; Gibson. 

 Deccan: Poona hills, Woodrow ; Mahableshwar, Graham, DahcU cf- Gihson, H. M. 

 Birdwood. — Distrib. India (Tropical Himalaya, Bengal, W. Peninsula). 



2. Euphorbia antiquorum, Linn. /Sy). PI. (1753) p, 450. A large 

 shrub or small tree 15-30 ft. higli ; trunk stout, sometimes nearly 1 ft. 

 in diam., cyliudrie or fluted; bark thick, I'ough, brown; branches 

 numerous, curving upwards, stout, fleshy, green, jointed, with 3-5 wide 

 thick sinuate wings narrowed at either end in each joint and coarsely 

 repand-crenate. Leaves small, \-\ in. long, subsessile, obovate-oblong, 

 rovinded or subtruncate, cuneate, fleshy, glabrous, soon deciduous, which 

 gives the plant a leafless appearance ; stipular spines short, sharp, 

 divaricate, persistent. Involucres 3-Date, forming small pedunculate 

 cymes, the central flower sessile, female, the 2 lateral on long stout 

 pedicels ; bracteoles numerous, laciuiate ; glands 5, large, broader than 

 long. Stamens numerous. Capsules nearly | in. in diam. ; cocci com- 

 pressed, glabrous ; styles 2-fid. M. B. I. v. 5, p. 255 ; Grab. Cat. 

 p. 179; Dak. & Gibs. p. 226; Wight, Icon. t. 897; Bedd. For. Man. 

 in Flor. Sylvat. p. ccxvi & Anal. Gen. t. 22, fig. 4; Trim. Fl. Ceyl. 

 V. 4, p. 4 ; Talb. Trees, Bomb. ed. 2, p. 297 ; Woodr. in Journ. Bomb. 

 Nat. V. 12 (1899) p. 369 ; Prain, Beng. PI. p. 921; Watt, Diet. Econ. 

 Prod. V. 3, p. 294. — Flowers in the rainy season. 



Not common. Deccan: Bijapur disti'icts, Talhot. S, M. Country: Belgaum 

 districts, Talbot. — Distrib. Throughout the hotter parts of India and Ceylon. 



3. Euphorbia ligularia, lio.vh. Hort. Beng. (1814) p. 36. An 

 erect fleshy glabrous shrub or small tree seldom reaching 20 ft. high ; 

 branches scattered, ascending, the young ones 5-sided, angled, with 

 short stipular sharp thorns arising from thick tubercles arranged in 

 5 irregular rows. Leaves 6-12 by 2-3 in., alternate, near the tops of 

 the branches, obovate-oblong or subspathulately obovate, acute, deciduous, 

 base narrowed into a very short petiole ; stipular thorns solitary or in 

 pairs, 3-| in. long. Involucres yellowish, hemispheric, in small stout 

 dichotomous shortly pedunculate cymes, the lateral ones of the cymes 

 with short thick pedicels, the central sessile and usually male ; lobes 

 large, erect, roundish, fimbriate ; glands transversely oblong ; bracts 

 numerous, fimbriate. Styles connate high up, undivided; stigmas 

 capitate. Capsules deeply 3-lobed, about k in. brond ; cocci compressed, 

 glabrous. Roxb. Fl. lud. v. 2 (1832) p~ 465 ; Buch.-Ham. in Trans. 

 Linn. Soc. v. 14 (1825) p. 285 (excliul. syn.). Evpliorhia nenifoUa, 

 Dalz. & Gibs. Bo. Fl. (1861) p. 226 (nol of Linn.); Hook. f. FI.'B. I. 

 v. 5, p. 255 ; Talb. Trees, Bomb. ed. 2, p. 297 ; Woodr. in Journ. Bomb. 

 Nat. v. 12 (1899) p. 369 ; Prain, Beng. PI. p. 922; Watt, Diet. Econ. 

 Prod. V. 3, p. 297. Ligularia lactea, Rumph. Herb. Araboin. v. 4 (1750) 

 p. 91, t. 40; Grab. Cat. p. 179 and p. 251.— Flowers : Feb.-Mar., the 

 new leaves appearing after the flowers. Veen. Thor;Sij. 



Throughout the Presidency; often planted as a fence. — Distrib. India (W. 

 Peninsvila) ; cultivated elsewhere and in Ceylon ; Beluchistan, Malay Islands. 



Some confusion exists regarding this plant. Tiiere are two distinct plants, Euphorbia 

 neriifoUa, Linn., with round stems {E. Xivu/a. Biicli.-Hani.), and E. ligularia, Eoxb., 

 with angular steons. Linnaeus (Hort. Cliff. [1737J p. 19G, n. 3) calls the stem of 

 E. neriifoUa (thus named in Sp. PI. [1753] p. 451) " teretiusculus quinquefariam 

 tuberculis pi'ominnlis angalatu^s." Roxburgh (Icones Roxburghiana3 in Herb. Kew.) 

 figures the stem of E. neriifoUa in t. 10G5 and t. 1971, contrasting it with the stem 



2p2 



