SPURGE TRIBE 121 



3-cleft, and 2-clefc ; bracts egg-shaped, oblong, and hairy ; leaves lanceolate, 

 minutely serrate, woolly ; glands of involucre transversely oval ; capsule 

 nearly smooth, woolly ; seeds inversaly egg-shaped, minutely dotted, and 

 with faint netted bands. This is an introduced plant, found in hedges at 

 Slinfold in Sussex. The height of its stem is from two to three feet, Avith 

 the leaves nearly all at the upper part, and its greenish flowers appear in 

 May and eTune. 



7. Leafy-branched Spurge {E. esula). — Umbel many-cleft, then 

 2-cleft ; partial bracts heart-shaped, blunt, spine-tipped ; leaves membrana- 

 ceous, lanceolate, or linear-lanceolate, narrowed below, shining ; glands of 

 the involucre roundish, with 2 horns ; seeds inversely egg-shaped, smooth ; 

 rootstock creeping and perennial. This Spurge is rare in woods, and 

 probably not truly wild, except in Jersey. Its stem is from twelve to 

 eighteen inches high, leafy, with a few axillary leafy branches. It flowers in 

 July, and is found on the banks of the Tweed, and in woods near Edinburgh. 



8. Cypress Spurge (E. ci/jxirissias). — Umbel of many principal branches, 

 and several scattered foot-stalks below ; bracts heart-shaped ; leaves linear, 

 entire, membranaceous, shining ; glands of the involucre moon-shaped ; 

 capsules nearly smooth ; perennial. This Spurge is readily known from 

 all other British species by its slender grass-like leaves. It is not a common, 

 and probably not an indigenous plant, though long since naturalized in the 

 woods of Northumberland and some other counties. It possesses powerful 

 and dangerous properties, but it appears in old times to have been very 

 highly prized as a medicine both in this and other European countries. It 

 was formerly called Welcome-to-our-House and Quacksalver's Spurge, and it 

 is still termed in French villages Itliuharhe des Paurres, though it is to be hoped 

 that it is not in general use among the poor. A French physician records a 

 case in which it proved fatal to a Avoman who took it medicinally. Sheep 

 and other animals will sometimes eat it, but it is poisonous if taken in great 

 quantity. 



9. Sea Spurge (E. pardlias). — Umbel of about 5 principal 2-cleft 

 branches, often with inferior scattered ones ; bracts somewhat kidney-shaped ; 

 leaves leathery, elliptic-oblong ; glands of involucre with 3 or 4 short points ; 

 capsule wrinkled ; seeds smooth ; rootstock woody, tough, and perennial. 

 This, though not a generally distributed plant of our sea-coasts, is abundant 

 on some of the sandy shores of England, and also near Dublin. It is 

 remarkable for the glaucous hue of its leaves, which are very numerous, and 

 so crowded, especially on the young shoots, that they overlap each other. It 

 is a stout, somewhat shrubby plant, several stems arising from one root. 

 These are woody below, and shorter than the flowering one, Avhich is about 

 a foot high. The yellowish-green flowers may be seen from August to 

 November. Gerarde, speaking of the Spurge plant, says, "But the strongest 

 is that which grows near the sea. Some Avrite by respect of others that it 

 enflameth exceedingly, but myselfe speak by experience ; for walking along 

 the sea-coast at Lee in Essex, with a gentleman called Mr. Rich, dwelling in 

 the same towne, I tooke one drop of it in my mouth, which neverthelesse did 

 so inflame and swelle in my throte that I hardly escaped with my life. And 

 in like case was the gentleman ; which caused us to take our horses and 



III.— 16 



