WOOD SPURGE 91 



ouendus, L. membranaceus, Aphthona abrat^lla, a butterfly, Alelittis ar- 

 temis, a moth, Ebulia verbascalis, and several Homoptera, Tettigometra 

 impressopunctata, Tkamnotettix cruentata, Eitpteryx stachydearum. 



Teucrinm, Dioscorides, is from Teucer, an ancient king of Troy, 

 reported to have first used this plant as a medicine. Scorodonia, 

 Corclus, is from the Greek, scorodon, garlic. 



Wood Sage is called Ambrose, Ambroise, Garlick Sage, Wood 

 Germander, Mountain Sage, Rock Mint. 



The people of Jersey are said to make use ot it in brewing, and call 

 it Ambroise according to Withering. Wood Sage is highly aromatic, 

 and used as a tonic. It imparted too strong a colour to beer to be 

 much used in place of hops. 



ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 



261. Te2icriwn Scorodonia, L. Stem erect, leaves ovate, cordate 

 below, crenate, flowers yellowish-white, in terminal and lateral racemes, 

 upper lip of calyx ovate. 



Wood Spurge (Euphorbia amygdaloides, L.) 



Southern plant as it is, this Spurge is found in Preglacial beds in 

 Norfolk and Suffolk. It ranges to-day in the North Temperate Zone 

 from Holland southwards, and in West Asia. In Great Britain it is 

 found in the Peninsula, Channel, Thames, and Anglia provinces, ex- 

 cept in Hunts; throughout the Severn province; in S. Wales, except 

 in Glamorgan, Carmarthen, Pembroke; in N. Wales, in Montgomery, 

 Carnarvon; in the Trent province, except in Lines; in West Yorks, 

 Durham, Cheviotland from Northumberland southward, and is local 

 generally. It is found in Bandon and Donegal in Ireland, and in the 

 Channel Islands. 



The Wood Spurge is a southern chalk and limestone species, which 

 is most plentiful on such soils, but is fairly widespread in England. It 

 is abundant in some woods and copses, and is also a common wayside 

 flower in the south of England, growing in clusters in the hedgerows. 



It has an erect habit, with a more or less simple stem, with milky 

 acrid juice, with numerous leaves, which are lance-shaped to egg-shaped 

 or almond-shaped (hence the second Latin name), the lower stalked, 

 the upper stalkless. The stem forms a branched umbel above with 

 5-10 rays, with a rounded united ring of bracts, nearly round, the 

 flower-stalks slender, with glands tapering to a sudden point. The 

 capsules are smooth, with small warts or tubercles, with smooth seeds. 



The stem is 1-2 ft. high. The flowers may be found in March and 



