486 CXXI. EUPHORBIACEZ. EvuPHoRBIA. 
Conspectus of the Genera. 
Fruit in a toothed, leafy involucre. < 5s MPG se 
8—16-androus. ? Fruit not involucrate. 4 2 Dien Re ae ee 
polyandrous. Leaves large, glaucous, peltate. . «| ° Sh Ue ee ema 
tetrandrous. Leaves evergreen, ov.te. var e . Busrus 
pentandrous. Leaves clothed with shining scales. © 
; triandrous. Leaves very small... © 2). ok 0 a 
Stexile fls. | monandrous, several in a corolla-like involucre. + (deh umehe Bet Ghee Bie) s peeMegRa Ee 
1 EUPHORBIA. 
Euphorbus, physician to Juba, king of Mauritiana, first used these plants in medicine. 
Flowers £&, mostly achlamydeous ; involucre monophyllous, sub- 
campanulate, with 4—5 petaloid segments alternating with as many 
external, gland-like teeth. o12or more; stamen 1; filament articu- 
lated in the middle. @ solitary, central; ovary pedicellate ; styles 
3, bifid; capsule 3-lobed, 3-celled ; cells 1-seeded—Herbs or shrubs, 
with a milky juice. Lws. generally opposite, sometimes wanting, often 
stipulate. Invol. axillary or subumbellate. 
* Heads of flowers in involucrate umbels. + Cauline leaves alternate. 
1. E. corouuata. Flowering Spurge. 
Erect; cauline and floral lvs. oblong, narrow, obtuse; inner segments of t 
invol. obovate, petaloid ; wmbel 5-rayed, rays 2 or 3 times di- or trichotomous.— 
2, In dry fields, &c., Can. and U.S. Stem slender, erect, 1—2f high, generally 
simple and smooth. Leaves 1—2’ long, often quite linear, very entire, scat- 
tered on the stem, verticillate and opposite in the umbel. The umbel, as in 
other species, consists of about 5 verticillate branches from the summit of the 
stem, each of which is subdivided into about 3, and finally into 2 peduncles. 
Corolla-like involucre large, white, showy. July Aug.—The central head is 
2 or 3 weeks earliest. t 
2. E. neuioscoria. Sun Spurge. 
Erect; floral lws. obovate, cauline wedge-form, serrate, smooth ; wmbel 5- 
rayed, then 3-rayed and forked——@ A milky weed in cultivated grounds, N. 
H.! to Niagara! S. to Car., remarkable for the symmetry of its vegetation. 
Stem smooth, erect, 8—16' high. Leaves scattered, 3—13’ long, ? as broad at 
the rounded or retuse apex, finely and sharply serrate, entire, and tapering to 
the base. Umbels subtended by a large involucre of 5 obovate leaves. Each 
of the 5 rays is pilose with scattered hairs and subdivided into an umbellet of 
3 rays with a 3-leaved involucel, and these finally into 2 or more pedicellate 
fascicles. Capsules smooth. June, July. 
3. E. NeMorA.Is. Darl. (E. pilosa. Pursh.) Hairy Spurge. 
Leaves oblong-lanceolate and oblanceolate, acute, narrowed to the base, 
subsessile, pilose beneath, those of the involucre ovate; wmbel 5—8-rayed, rays 
ones or twice divided; seg. of the floral invol. colored, entire, subreniform; ova. 
verrucose.—2| Moist woods, Can. to Va. Stem 2—3f high, smooth, rarely 
branched below the umbel. Leaves 3—4’ by 1’, entire or slightly serrulate 
above, those of the stem alternate, of the branches opposite and nearly as broad 
as long. Floral involucre purplish-brown within. Capsule at length nearly 
smooth. May, June. 
4, E. oprusata. Pursh. Obtuse-leaved Spurge. s 
Erect; vs. alternate, sessile, spatulate, serrulate, smooth; wmbel 3-rayed, 
rays twice dichotomous ; floral lvs. ovate, subcordate, somewhat obtuse; caps. 
muricate—2 Grows in waste grounds, Can. to Va. Stem 12—18/ high. a 
5. E. PEpius. 
St. erect or ascending, branched below; wmbels 3-rayed, rays mostly di- 
chotomous; involucrate lvs. ovate, acute—Q@) A small species, in cultivated 
grounds, Penn. to Va. Floral leaves large. Flowers conspicuous. Torr. 
t Cauline leaves opposite. 
6. E. Mercurrarina. Muhl. 
St. weak and slender, simply 3-cleft; /vs. opposite and ternately verti- 
