EUPIIORBIACE^. 117 



i inch long by -J broad. Seeds reddish-brown, more or less tinged with 

 grey from the adhesion of the thin outer covering, as in M. perennis. 

 When this is rubbed off, the seed appears shagreened instead of 

 reticulated; it is the same in M. perennis, but the thin covering 

 adheres much more closely in that species, and is not easy to remove. 

 Plant yellowish-green, the female deep green, usually with the leaves 

 smaller, more lanceolate, with the broadest jiart close to the base. 



Yar. iS only differs from the narrow-leaved form of the female plant 

 of var. a by having male flowers mtermixed with the female. It has 

 remained constant in my garden for three years, but Mr. Borrer and 

 others state that this is not always the case. 



Annual Dog^s Mercury. 



French, Mercuriale anymielle. German, Emjdhriges BingelJcraut. 



This plant is eaten in Germany after being boiled ; its acrid and poisonous quahties 

 being dissipated, it is believed, by the process. The leaves were formerly used as an 

 emollient, containmg much mucilage. 



EXCLUDED SPECIES. 



EUPHORBIA DULCIS. Linn. 



Said to have escaped from cultivation about Gordon Castle and 

 Grant Lodge, Moray (Rev. George Gordon). Tullibody, Ochills, intro- 

 duced, and not native (Professor Balfour in Fl. Ed,). 



EUPHORBIA CHARACIAS. Linn. 

 Engl. Bot. ed. i. I^o. 442. 



Said to have occurred in Needwood Forest, Stafford, and in Wor- 

 cestershire, but no doubt E. amygdaloides was mistaken for it. 



EUPHORBIA SALICIPOLIA. Host. 



This subspecies of E. Esula is reported as naturalised in the Mains 

 Flowery Den by Professor G. Lawson, from w^hom I have a specimen. 



EUPHORBIA PEPLOIDES. Gouan. 



The Rev. W. W. Newbould thinks he has seen British specimens 

 of this subspecies of E. Peplus. 



