EUPHORBIACE^E. (SPURGE FAMILY.) 429 



7. TRAGIA, Plum. 



Flowers monoecious, apetalous, iu slender racemes. Sterile flowers few or 

 numerous, caducous. Calyx 3-4-parted. Stamens 2-4, with short and 

 separate filaments, fertile flowers few or solitary at the base of the raceme. 

 Calyx 5 - 8-parted. Style 3-cleft : stigmas entire. Capsule bristly, of three 

 globose 1 -celled, 1-seeded, 2-valved carpels. Pubescent or bristly herbs, with 

 watery juice. Leaves alternate. Racemes opposite the leaves and terminal. 

 Bracts small, entire, persistent. Flowers minute, greenish. 



1. T. innocua, Walt. Low, downy or hairy; stem at length much 

 branched ; leaves nearly sessile, varying from broadly ovate, and serrate or 

 toothed throughout, or only at the apex, to linear and entire ; racemes shorter 

 than the leaves and few-flowered, or elongated and many-flowered. Dry 

 sandy soil, Florida, and northward. May - August. %. Stem 6'- 12' high. 

 Leaves l'-2' long. 



2. T. urticifolia, Michx. Bristly, with stinging hairs; stem erect, 

 sparingly branched; leaves petioled, deltoid-ovate or oblong, coarsely serrate, 

 truncate or cordate at the broad base, pale beneath; racemes shorter than the 

 leaves, the sterile flowers somewhat crowded ; capsule very bristly. Dry 

 soil, June - Sept. 11 Stems 1 - 2 high. Leaves 1 ' - 2' long. 



3. T. macrocarpa, Willd. Hirsute; stem twining (2-4 long); 

 leaves ample, thin, cordate, coarsely and sharply serrate, long-petioled ; 

 racemes shorter than the leaves ; capsule large. Florida, Tennessee, and 

 westward. 



8. MERCURIALIS, Tourn. 



Flowers dioecious, apetalous, in axillary spikes or clusters. Calyx 3-parted. 

 Stamens 8 - 20, distinct. Styles 2, simple, united at base. Capsule 2-celled, 

 2-seeded. 



1. M. anmia, L. Smooth, branching (1 high) ; leaves ovate-lanceolate, 

 crenate-toothed ; sterile spike longer than the leaves ; fertile flowers clustered ; 

 capsule hispid. Waste places, sparingly naturalized. 



9. CROTON, L. 



Flowers monoecious, in spikes or racemes. Calyx of the sterile flowers 4 - 

 6-cleft or 4-6-parted. Petals 4-6 (wanting in No. 1). Stamens 5-20, dis- 

 tinct: anthers erect, introrse. Glands as many as the calyx lobes and oppo- 

 site them. Fertile flowers at the base of the sterile spike. Calyx 5 - 8-cleft 

 or 5 - 8-parted. Petals minute or wanting. Styles 2-3, once to thrice 2-cleft. 

 Capsule of 3 (rarely 1-2) 1-celled, 1-seeded, 2-valved carpels. Glands as 

 many as the calyx lobes or none. Herbs or shrubs, with waterv juice, stel- 

 late pubescence, and alternate petioled leaves. Flowers terminal, and at the 

 divisions of the stem. 



* Styles simple: sterile and fertile flowers 5-petalled : stamens numerous. 



1. C. Alabamensis, E. A. Smith. Stem tall, woody, much branched ; 

 leaves thin, short-petioled, oblong-lanceolate, mostly obtuse, smooth or nearly 

 so above, the lower surface, like the branchlets and racemes, coated with sil- 

 very scales; racemes often unisexual, few- or many-flowered; calyx lobes 5, 



