.] EUPHORBIACE^E. 311 



almost sessile ; the females solitary, the males 2 or 3 together. Perianth- 

 segments 6, ovate in the males, narrow in the females. Disk of 6 distinct 

 glands. Anthers 3, on a central column. Capsule depressed-globose, about 

 1 line diameter, muricate or tuberculate. Seeds angular, transversely wrin- 

 kled. — P. cantoniensis, Hornem.; Kl. PI. Meyen. 420. P. leprocarpus, Wight, 

 Ic. t. 1895, iv. P. lepidocarpus, Sieb. and Zucc. Fam. Nat. Fl. Jap. i. 35. 



In sunny places, Hance. In various parts of India, but much less common than P. Niruri ; 

 in Loochoo and Japan. 



3. P. Niruri, Linn. ; Roxb. Fl. Tnd. iii. 659 ; Wight, Ic. t. 1894. Habit 

 and foliage of P. urinaria, but usually taller and more branched. Leaves 

 seldom above 4 lines long. Pedicels i to 1 line long. Capsules quite smooth. 

 Seeds marked (under the microscope) with longitudinal striae, without trans- 

 verse wrinkles. 



Hongkong, Harland. A very common weed in tropical and subtropical Asia and Africa 

 and some parts of tropical America. I have not now the Hongkong specimens before me, 

 but describe it from Indian and Philippine Island ones. 



4. P. anceps, Willd. Spec. iv. 574. An annual, or perennial of short du- 

 ration, decumbent and much -branched, 6 in. to 1 ft. long, glabrous and ulau- 

 cous ; the branches all very flat, though slender, with acute angles. Leaves 

 from oblong and 2 to 4 lines long to linear-oblong or lanceolate and near 1 in. 

 long, obtuse or acute. Female pedicels 1 to 3 lines long, the males shorter. 

 Perianth- segments small, oblong. Glands distinct. Stamens 3, distinct or 

 slightly united. Capsule smooth or glandular. Seeds elegantly and regu- 

 larly marked with microscopical tubercles. — P. simplex, Willd. ? ; Eoxb. Fl. 

 Ind. iii. 654. P. ussuriensis, Kuppr. ; Maxim. Prim. Fl. Amur. 241. 



Near the Happy Valley, Wilford ; also Wright. Dispersed over India, from Ceylon and the 

 Peninsula to the Archipelago and Pacific Islands, and northward to China and Mantchuria. 



5. P. maderaspatensis, Linn.; Roxb. Fl. Ind. iii. 654; Wight, Ic. t. 

 1895, iii. A glaucous rigid annual, often outliving a second year and then 

 appearing woody, 1 to 4 ft. high ; the slender branches more or less flattened. 

 Leaves obovate or cuneate-oblong, 3 or 4 lines to 1 in. long. Flowers nearly 

 sessile ; the females solitary, the males 2 or 3 together. Perianth-segments 

 broadly obovate. Glands distinct. Anthers 3, nearly sessile on an almost 

 globular column. Capsule quite smooth. Seeds very minutely tuberculate 

 or almost smooth. 



Hongkong, Champion. In Ceylon and the Indian Peninsula. Some specimens of this 

 species have got mixed, in Wall. Cat. n. 7906 b., with those of P. obcordatus, Roxb., a very 

 different 



6. P. cinerascens, Hook, and Am. Rot. Reech. 211; Seem. Rot. Her. 

 t. 97 {not Wall. Cat, 7915, which is Melanthesa rhamnoides, Rlume). A 

 glabrous, much branched, prostrate or divaricate shrub, apparently dioecious. 

 Leaves obovate or oblong, very obtuse, 3 to 5 lines long, almost coriaceous. 

 Stipules ciliate. Flowers 1 to 3 together. Female pedicels 2 to 3 lines 

 long, male ones shorter. Perianth-segments broadly ovate, very obtuse, 1 line 

 in the females, smaller in the males. Anthers 3, oblong, diverging from a 

 thick central column. Disk in the females thick, annular, truncate. Styles 

 united to the middle, each with 2 recurved lobes. Capsule above 2 lines dia- 

 meter. Seeds minutelv tuberculate. 



