i 



Cf>NTKIBUTIf)NS TO NoRTH AmeKICAN EuPHOR- 



BIACE^E. 



II. 



Bt C. F. MlLT.SPAtJGH, M. D. 



1. EUPHOIIBIA SEliPYLLIFOLIA, AND ITS FORMS. 



EuphorUa serpijUifoUa of Persoou has been one of the 

 most puzzling species of the genus to those working over the 

 .hstricts which it i«Iial)its ; being a plant whose inlierent 

 nature seems to be to change slightly its cliaraeters in almost 

 every station in which it is found. Of the large number of 

 mdivKlaals in n)y herbarium from various situations west of 

 the Mississippi, fully one-third of the lal)els bear a mark of 

 doubt, after the specific name. In view of these facts I shall 

 undertake to describe the species and its forms, with the hope 

 that the result may render future nomination facile. 



Persoon says in ''Synopsis Plantarum," Vol. II., page U 

 (1807): "74. sekpillifolia, dichoioma procnmhens, Jlor. 

 sohfarns axdhirlbns, fol opposifLs ovaUbus rdusis apicc 

 ercmdahs, caps, conicis ghthrls. Hab. in Amer. Calidiore. 

 Hf-rb. Thibaut. Parvula. f " 



^^'ere the prostrate species of Enphorhia few, and the dis- 

 tinctions between them greater, the above would describe the 

 species amply. But in the light of so many prostrate Aniso- 

 ^%//rF It proves very vagae indeed ; hence I may be allowed 

 tlie privdege of enlarging upon it, having a large collection, 

 and a fragment of the original specimen to draw from.^ 



\.ilZ^ ^f'^^^^'n ^Z-,?^^'-^^ En^elmaan by M. Boissier, from the ber- 

 banum o A DeCandolle, and kindly loaned me by Prof. Win. Trelease, 



La™ «!e w T" vr'.^'!,^'"" ^^^°"^ ^^ ^"*«":^' St- Louis. The ticket 

 bears the word "Mexico," which with "Amer. calidiore " is all the indi- 



