EUPHORBIACEiE— SPURGE TRIBE 117 



Crowberry {Empetmm). 



Black Crowberry, or Crakeberry {E. nigrum). — Stems branched, 

 and prostrate ; leaves linear-oblong ; flowers axillary towards the summit of 

 the branches; stigma with 9 rays; perennial. This is a small shrubby pros- 

 trate plant, very similar to a heath, with narrow oblong leaves, the margins 

 of Avhich are so rolled under that they almost meet beneath. The flowers 

 expand from April to Jvily, and grow in the axils of the upper leaves. They 

 are small and of purplish colour, and are succeeded by the autumnal clusters 

 of black berries. The Crowberry extends as far south as Devonshire, 

 Somerset and Dorset, but is most abundant in our northern mountainous 

 districts, as well as in the more northern countries of Europe. Its berries 

 furnish a large store of food for the moor-fowl, and though they are acid, 

 and to most people unpleasant in flavour, yet they are eaten in the Arctic 

 regions, and considered a preventive to scurvy. The people of Siberia make 

 an acid drink from these fruits, and, as well as the Kamtschatdales, use them 

 in puddings. They are, besides, in the north of Europe generally used to 

 dye cloth of a black colour, and to darken the tint of various kinds of furs. 

 In our country, Crowberries are eaten chiefly by children, but they should 

 not be taken in large numbers. In the Orkneys very good ropes are made 

 from the shoots of the plant. The shrub is sometimes called Black-berried 

 Heath. The French call it Camarine ; the Germans, Bauchheere ; and the 

 Dutch, Besheide. Cattle appear to have no relish for the plant. 



Order LXXVI. EUPHORBIACEiE— SPURGE TRIBE. 



Stamens and pistils in separate flowers ; perianth of 3, 4, or more lobes, 

 sometimes wanting; stamens varying in number and arrangement; ovary 

 mostly 3-celled, with as many styles and stigmas ; fruit usually 3-celled and 

 3-seeded. The description here given of the order includes only the British 

 genera ; but many of the tropical genera are furnished with both sepals and 

 petals. Our native species have herbaceous or woody stems, sometimes leaf- 

 less, but usually with opposite, alternate, or whorled leaves. They are 

 mostly milky herbs, and of a highly corrosive, acrid, or narcotic character. 

 Some of the exotic plants of the family yield the most deadly poisons. The 

 Manchineel (Hijjpomane mancincUa), whose shadow was once thought fatal to 

 the sleeper; and the Mandioc of the West Indies (Jatropha manihot), the 

 juice of which will in a few minutes cause death, are among the dangerous 

 species ; but on the other hand we owe to this order the castor oil, which is 

 extracted from the seed of Bicinus comwmiis, and the caoutchouc of Guiana, 

 which is the thickened juice of Siphonia elasHca ; while even the poisonous 

 Mandioc affords in its root the nutritious cassava, the bread made of which 

 is by the Creoles preferred to that made of wheaten flour; and from the 

 same root we derive the useful tapioca. The gum resin, or Euphorbium of 

 the chemist, is procured from three species of Spurge growing in Africa and 

 the Canary Islands. 



1. Mercury (Mercuruilis). — Stamens and pistils in separate flowers, often 



