308 euphorbiaceje. [Ricinus. 



more broadly lanceolate serrate lobes. Racemes or panicles 3 to 6 in. long, 

 sometimes becoming leaf-opposed by the development of a terminal shoot. 

 Male sepals about 4 lines long. Capsule £ in. long or more. 



In waste places, Seemann and others. A native probably of western Asia or Africa, but so 

 much cultivated and sowing itself so readily that it has become a common weed in many hot 

 countries. It supplies the castor oil. 



11. CROTON, Linn. 



Flowers monoecious or rarely dioecious, in racemes or spikes, or rarely pani- 

 culate. Male flowers : Calyx 5 -cleft, valvate in the bud. Petals 5, convolute 

 in the bud. Glands 5, alternating with the petals. Stamens usually 10 to 

 20, free. Anthers 2 -celled, adnate. Female flowers : Calyx 5 -cleft, persistent. 

 Petals rudimentary or none. Glands 5. Styles 3, 2-cleft or branched. 

 Ovary 3 -celled, with 1 ovule in each cell. Capsule dividing into 2-valved 

 cocci. — Trees, shrubs, or herbs. Leaves alternate, entire or divided. Eacemes 

 or spikes terminal, or rarely axillary, usually androgynous. 



A large genus, widely distributed over the warmer regions of the globe, both in the New 

 and the Old World. 



Leaves and branches glabrous. Petioles very short 1. C. Hancei. 



Leaves, at least underneath, and branches tomentose or hairy. Petioles 

 usually 4 to 6 lines. 



Bracts entire. Stamens 10 or 12. Styles 2-cleft 2. C. lachnocarpum. 



Bracts divided. Stamens above 20. Styles 4-cleft 3. C. chinense. 



1. C. Hancei, Bentk., n. sp. A shrub or tree, glabrous, except a minute 

 scaliness on the young branches and inflorescence. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, 

 acuminate, 3 to 4 in. long or even more, entire or minutely serrate, narrowed, 

 below the middle, but obtuse at the base, and there bearing sometimes 2 mi- 

 nute stipitate glands ; the petiole very short. Spikes terminal, about 1 in. 

 long. Bracts minute. Pedicels very short. Female flowers single at the 

 base. Sepals green, about 3 lines long. Glands none. Ovary globular, 

 hairy. Style shortly columnar, with 3 short bifid lobes. Male flowers rather 

 crowded, globular, about 2 lines diameter. Petals narrow. Disk small. 

 Stamens about 16, intermixed with a few hairs. — Croton longifolium, Seem. 

 Bot. Her. 410; not of Wall. 



Hongkong, Hance. Not seen from elsewhere. It is allied to Wallich's n. 8001, from 

 Silhet, but that has longer leaves decurrent on the petiole, looser racemes, larger female 

 flowers, a more deeply divided style, the ovary glabrous. It has no connection with C. longi- 

 folium, Wall., which is a Trigonostemon. 



2. C. lachnocarpum, Benth. in Kew Journ. Bot. vi. 5. A shrub, more 

 or less pubescent with stellate hairs. Leaves oblong or ovate-oblong, acute, 

 and mucronate, or rather obtuse, usually 2 to 3 in. but sometimes twice 

 as long, serrulate-crenate, with small stipitate glands at the serratures, be- 

 coming glabrous above when old, on petioles of 3 to 6 lines. Racemes ter- 

 minal, 3 to 4 in. long. Bracts minute, subulate. Pedicels about 1 line. 

 Male flowers clustered, about 1 line diameter. Petals oblong. Glands small. 

 Stamens 10 to 12. Female flowers few at the base of the raceme. Sepals 

 1 to 1^ lines long. Petals minute, subulate. Glands small. Ovary villous. 

 Styles subulate, bifid. 



Common in woods, Champion ; also Wright and Hance. Not known from elsewhere. 



