EUPHORBIACEAE (SPURGE FAMILY) 641 



++ *+ Flowers in axillary spikes or racemes (except no. 7), apetalous (except no. 4) ; stamens 8 or 



more ; anthers erect in the bud. 



4. Argythamnia. Petals and sepals 5. Stamens 10-15, united. Styles bifid, linear. 

 .'). Mercurialis. Sepals 8 or calyx 3-parted. Stamens S-20 ; anther-cells attached at tip, pen- 

 dulous. Styles (slightly united at the base) strongly papillose, undivided. 

 6. Acalypha. Calyx 4(3-5)-parted. Stamens mostly 8. Fertile flowers In the axils of leafy 



bracts. Stigmas finely dissected. 

 T. Ricinus. Racemes terminal, subpanlcled. Calyx 8-6-parted. Stamens very numerous; 



the filaments repeatedly branched. Styles 2-parted. 

 +4- ++ ++ -M- Flowers apetalous, in racemes or spikes pistillate at base ; stamens 2 or 8 ; styles simple. 



8. Tragia. Flowers racemose. Calyx-lobes valrate in bud. Hirsute or pubescent. 



9. Stillingia. Flowers splcate. Calyx-lobes Imbricate in bud. Fertile bracts glandullferous. 



Glabrous. 



+ -i- Seeds and ovules 2 in each cell ; flowers monoecious. 



10. Phyllanthus. Flowers axillary. Stamens 8, united. 



11. Andrachne. Stamens 5 or 6. Flowers axillary, the staminate pvtaliferous. 



* * Flowers all without calyx, included in a cup-shaped calyx-like involucre, the whole liable to 



be mistaken for a single flower. 



12. Euphorbia. Involucre surrounding many staminate flowers (each of a single naked stamen) 



and one pistillate flower (a 8-lobed pistil). 



1. JATROPHA L. 



Flowers monoecious, rarely dioecious, in a terminal open forking cyme ; the 

 fertile ones usually in the lower forks. Calyx corolla-like, in the staminate 

 flowers often salver-shaped, 5-lobed ; in the pistillate 5-parted, imbricated or 

 convolute in the bud. Glands of the disk opposite the calyx-lobes. Stamens 

 10-30, monadelphous at base. Ovary mostly 3-celled ; styles 3, united below 

 their summits once or twice forked. Capsule separating into 3 two-valved car- 

 pels. Seed carunculate. Perennial herbaceous or shrubby plants, chiefly 

 tropical, with alternate mostly long-petioled palmately-veined leaves, and stip- 

 ules. Our species has apetalous flowers, the staminate corolla salver-form, and 

 is armed with stinging bristles. (Name said by Linnaeus, without entire clear- 

 ness or classical accuracy, to be formed of tarpbv, a remedy, and <f>dyu, I eat.) 



1. J. stimulbsa Michx. (TREAD-SOFTLY, SPURGE NETTLE.) Herbaceous, 

 from a long perennial root, branching, 1.6-8 dm. high; leaves roundish-heart- 

 shaped, 3-6-lobed nearly to the base, on long petioles ; the divisions entire or 

 acutely toothed, cut, or even pinnatifid, often discolored ; flowers white, fra- 

 grant, 1.8 cm. long or more; filaments 10, monadelphous only at the woolly 

 base, the outer set almost distinct. Dry sandy soil, Va. to Fla. and La. 

 Juno- Sept. 



2. CRdTON L. 



Flowers monoecious, rarely dioecious, mostly in terminal spike-like racemes 

 or spikes. Ster. Fl. Calyx 6(rarely 4-6)-parted ; the divisions lightly imbri- 

 cated or nearly valvate in the bud. Petals usually present, as many, but mostly 

 small or rudimentary, hypogynous. Glands or lobes of the disk as many as and 

 alternate with the petals. Receptacle usually hairy. Stamens 5 or more ; fila- 

 ments with the anthers inflexed in the bud. Pert. Fl. Calyx 6-10-cleft or 

 -parted, nearly as in the staminate flowers ; but petals none or minute rudiments. 

 Ovary 3(rarely 2-4)-celled, with a single ovule in each cell ; styles as many, 

 from once to thrice 2-cleft. Capsule separating into as many 2-valved 1-seeded 

 carpels. Seeds carunculate. Stellate-downy, scurry, or hairy and glandular 

 plants, mostly strong-scented ; the fertile flowers usually at the base of the 

 sterile spike or cluster. Leaves alternate, or sometimes imperfectly opposite, 

 with or without obvious stipules. (KooTwv, the Greek name of the Castor-oil 

 Plant, of this family.) 



