SPURGE FAMILY 



435 



unpleasantly turpentinous, are eaten in Arctic regions, being con- 

 sidered as a preventive to scurvy. There is only one British 

 species. 



I. Empetrum (Crowberry). 

 — Flower-scales 3 outer and 

 3 inner ; stamens 3 ; style 

 short; stigma peltate, 6 — 9- 

 rayed ; berry globose, 6 — 9- 

 chambered. (Name from 

 the Greek, en petron, on 

 rock, from the character of 

 its habitat.) 



I. E. nigrum (Black Crow- 

 berry, Crakeberry). — A 

 small, prostrate, leafy shrub, 

 with the habit of a Heath; 

 stems much branched; leaves 

 linear-oblong, so revolute 

 that their margins meet at 

 the back ; flowers in the axils 

 of the upper leaves, purplish ; 

 berries black. — Mountainous 

 heaths in the north and 

 west ; frequent. The berries 

 are much eaten by moor- 

 fowl. — Fl. April — June. Pe- 

 rennial. 



EMPETRUM ni'gkum i^Black Crcxvberry). 



Ord. LXXII. Euphorbiace.e. — Spurge Family 



A large Order containing about 200 genera and 3,000 species 

 distributed over most of the tropical and temperate regions of 

 the globe, and comprising trees, shrubs, and herbs. Their affini- 

 ties are obscure ; for, though the European species have no 

 perianth, many tropical genera appear to possess one. They 

 appear to be related, on the one hand, to Urticdcece, and, on the 

 other, to MalvdcecB. Many African species are spinous, presenting 

 a superficial resemblance to Cactdcece. Most plants in the Order 

 have milky juice, which is often acrid and contains rubber and 

 various alkaloids. The leaves are usually scattered and simple, 

 and often have deciduous stipules. The flowers are small, the 

 stamens and carpels in separate flowers and accompanied by bracts 

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