316 SUMMER FLOWERS. 



forked rays ; flower-heads small ; glands of the involucre 

 crescent-shaped^ with long points ; seeds pitted. — Cultivated 

 and waste places. Fl. July, August. 



E. exigua : annual ; stems slender, glabrous, erect or ascend- 

 ing, 3-8 inches high ; stem-leaves numerous, small, narrow, 

 the floral ones usually lanceolate ; umbels of 3-5 rays, some- 

 times contracted into terminal heads, more frequently elon- 

 gated and forked ; glands of the involucre crescent-shaped, 

 with fine points; seeds slightly wrinkled. — Cornfields. Fl. 

 June to August. 



E. Lathyris : annual or biennial ; stem tall, stout, three 

 feet high, smooth, glaucous ; stem-leaves narrow-oblong, the 

 upper broader, all opposite ; umbels of 3-4 long rays, once or 

 twice forked, with large ovate-lanceolate floral-leaves ; glands 

 of the involucre crescent-shaped, with short blunt points. — 

 Naturalized about cottage gardens. FL June, July. 



ft Floral leaves connate. 



E. amygdaloides : stems erect, reddish, almost woody, 1-2 

 feet high ; leaves rather crowded towards the middle of the 

 stem, lanceolate or narrow-oblong, the upper more distant and 

 shorter; umbel of five long rays, not much divided, with a 

 few axillary peduncles below it; floral leaves of each pair 

 always connected into one large orbicular one, pale yellowdsh- 

 green; glands of the involucre crescent-shaped, with rather 

 long points. — Woods and thickets. Fl. March, April. [See 

 also p. 16.] 



(264) Mercurialis. Mercury.- 



M. annua : annual; stems erect, glabrous, ^-1 foot high, 

 with opposite branches ; leaves ovate or oblong, coarsely- 

 toothed, of a thin texture; male flow^ers clustered along slen- 



