33b FLORA OF JAMAICA Euphorbia 



B. Glands of the involucre without a petaloid appen- 

 dage. 

 Leaves alternate, but uppermost opposite or whorled. 

 Annual or biennal herbs. 

 Leaves : uppermost and bracts with a red blotch 



at base 14. E. hcterophylla. 



Leaves : uppermost and bracts with a whitish 



blotch at base 15. E. genicnilata. 



Leaves w^anting, sometimes scale-like, opposite, at 

 the topmost nodes. Shrubs. Stems and branches 



long-jointed, 2-winged 16. E. alata. 



Leaves alternate, crowded at ends of thickish 

 branches, which bear below the scars of fallen 

 leaves. Small trees. 



Involucres cymose-corymbose 17. E-xmnicea. 



Involucres solitary 18. E. troyana. 



[Leaves alternate below the umbellate inflorescence, 

 leaf-like bracts opposite on the branches of the 

 inflorescence. Herb E. Pei'>lus.'\ 



A. Glands of the involucre with a petaloid appendage.* 



1. E. buxifolia Lam. Encyc. ii. 421 (1786) ; stem.sand branches 

 short-jointed, usually erect, woody ; leaves somewhat crowded 

 above, often dropping oft' below, 12-3 mm. 1. ; involucres solitary, 

 glabrous. — Descourt. Fl. Ant. vi. 156, /. 418 ; Qriseb. Fl. Br. W. 

 Ind. 53 ; Boiss. in DC. Prodi: xv. pt. 2, 15 ; Muell. Arcj. in Fl. 

 Bras. xi. ft. 2, 681 ; Millsp. in Field Col. 3Ii(s. Bot. ii. 60, 160, 

 238 ; Urh. Symh. Ant. iv. 353. E. glabrata Sw. Prodr. 76 (1788). . 

 E. mesembrianthemifolia Jacg. Enum. PL Carih. 22 (1760) <k Sel. 

 Stirp. Amcr. 150. Peplis fruticosa maritima geniculata Sloane 

 Cat. 82 it Hist. i. 198. Chamajsyce buxifolia Small Fl. S.E. U.S. 

 711 (1903); Millsp. torn. cit. 301. Jacquin's name E. mesem- 

 hrianthemifolia is the earliest, but his description is scarcely 

 adequate to decide the identity of his plant. A specimen from 

 Swartz named by him E. glabrata is in Herb. Stockholm. 



Rocks on sea-shore ; Gun Cay, near Port Eoyal, Sloane Herb. iii. 118 1 

 Hoiostoun ! WrigJd ! Broughton ! Shakspear ! Swartz ! Macfadycn ! St. Ann ; 

 near Holland Bay ; Purdie ! St. Ann's Bay ; Mammee Bay ; Prior ! March ! 

 Savanna Point, Low Layton, Metcalfe I Lucea, Hitchcock; Palisadoes; 

 Healthshire Hills ; Long Acre IPoint, west of Black River ; Harris ! Fl. Jam. 

 6751, 9524, 9967, ll,627.~Bermuda, Florida and Keys, Bahamas, West ' 

 Indies, Central America, Venezuela, Brazil. 



A low shrubby glabrous plant, 1-3 ft. high or more. Stems erect to 

 prostrate, erect branches sometimes leafless below, jointed, somewhat, 

 swollen at the nodes. Leaves somewhat fleshy, elliptical to ovate, often 

 somewhat folded, pointed to blunt, entire, base slightly unequal, auriculate- 

 cordate. Stipules triangular-ovate, more or less fringed. Involucres few 

 at the ends of branches, solitary, terminal and axillary, about 1'3 mm. 1., 



♦ Appendage rudimentary in E. hirta, sometimes wanting in E.prostrata 

 and E. thymifolia. 



