EUPHORBIACEsE. [MEiicrniAi.is. 



2. MERCURIA'LIS, Tourncf. DOG'S MKIKTUY. 

 Erect herbs. Leaves opposite, petioled, serrate, stipulate. J-'/<>; n 

 mou- di-cecious, minute; males in interrupted axillary spikes; tVinn It-- 

 clustered, spiked or racemose. Sepah 3, valvate. Disk in the female of 

 2 elongate glands, alternating with the carpels. Stamens 8-20, on a 

 central disk, filaments slender erect ; anther-cells pendulous from a 

 subglobose connective, bursting outwards. Ovary 2-celled, styles long, 

 simple, subulate ; ovule solitary, pendulous. Capsule didymous, outi-r 

 coat separating from the cartilaginous 2-valved inner. Seeds pitted or 

 wrinkled, fuuicle thickened ; cotyledons broad. DISTKIB. Europe, N. 

 Africa, temp. Asia to Japan ; species 6. ETYM. unknown. 



1. M. perennis, L. ; perennial, pilose, dioecious, stem simple. 

 Woo.is and shady places, ascending to 1,700 ft. in the Highlands ; fl. March- 

 April. Rootstock slender, creeping. Stem 6-18 in., solitary, erect, ter- 

 minal. Leaves larger upwards, upper 23 in., shortly petioled, ovate or 

 elliptic-lanceolate, crenate-serrate, green, often blue when dry ; stipules 

 minute. Male spikes very slender, long-peduncled, flowers pedicelled. 

 fifpa/s acute, female spikes or racemes shorter, 1-3-flowered ; styles long, 

 recurved, stigmatic all over the front. Capsule % in. diam., hispid. .v</. 

 grey, cuticle white. DISTKIB. Europe, N. Africa. M. ovata, Sternb. and 

 Hopp3, with broader subsessile leaves, is hardly a variety. 



2. M. an'nua, L. ; annual, nearly glabrous, stem branched. 



Fields, gardens, &c. from Fife and Perth southwards ; rare in Ireland ; a 

 colonist? Watson; fl. July-Oct. Dioecious or monoecious (M . aaMffua. I.. 

 fil. ). titem 6-18 in. Leaves membranous, shortly petioled, ovate or lan- 

 ceolate, narrowest in the female, acute, rounded or cordate at the base, 

 shining, crenate-serrate, ciliate. Malejlcncer clustered in peduncled axillary 

 spikes ; female in axillary clusters with sometimes males intermixed ; style's 

 diverging, stigmatic on the sides in front. Capmle small, tubercled, hispid. 

 X.Y/.V brown, reticulate. DISTRIB. Europe, N. Africa, W. Asia. Leaves 

 boiled and eaten as a pot-herb. 



3. BUX US, Toimicf. Box. 



Evergreen shrnbs. Leaves alternate, exstipulate. Flowers monoecious, 

 in axillary fascicles or spikes, green, 4-bracteolate, uppermost female. 

 MALE. Sepals 4, 2 outer imbricate in bud. Stamens 4, hypogynous, 

 opposite the sepals, filaments stout fleshy; anthers 2-colled. Inn-Ming 

 inwards. Ovary rudimentary. FEMALE. Sepals 4-12, often imbricate 

 in threes. Ovary free, 3-celled, top 3-lobed between the styles ; styles '.',, 

 oxcentric, spreading, persistent, grooved and stigmatic on the inner face : 

 ovules suspended in pairs in each cell, anatropous, raphe dorsal. Capsule 

 coriaceous, 3-celled, locnlicidally 3-valved ; cells 1-2-seeded. Seeds pen- 

 dulous, testa crustaceous shining thickened at the base, albumen flcsby ; 

 embryo axile, curved, radicle superior. DISTRIB. Europe, AtrieM, Mada- 

 gascar, Asia, W. Indies; species 17. ETYM. irif|oj of the Greeks. 



1. B. sempervi'rens, L. ; leaves oblong, flowers sessile. 

 Chalk hills of Kent, Surrey, Bucks, and Gloucester ; indigenous in Surrey ; a 



denizen, Watson; fl. April-May. A ahrub or small tree, 8-12 ft.; branches 



erect or drooping, young pubescent, wood close-grained. Leaves $-1 in., 



