412 cxxxv. EUPHORBIACE^. (J. D. Hooker.) \_Claoxylon. 



Sect. II. Fem.fi. without hypogynous scales. Anthers sessile in several 

 series around the margin of a flat naked receptacle. 



5. C. anomalimij ILooTc. f. ; leaves long-petioled oblong-lanceolate 

 acuminate subserrate glabrous base very acute 2-glandular, racemes very 

 short dense-fld. 



TRAVANCORE ; at Courtallam, Wight. ' , 



Branches slender, terete, glabrous. Leaves 4-6 in., membranous ; petiole i -2 in., 



very slender. Male and Jem. racemes -i-f in., very shortly peduncled; flowers \ in. 



diam., subtomentose. Anthers very numerous, quite sessile, imbricating ; cells short, 



diverging, truncate when dehisced. Ovary tomentose. I have only one male and one 



fern, specimen of this singular species. 



Sect. III. Fern. fl. with 3 ligulate or oblong hypogynous scales alter- 

 nating with the carpels. Racemes very slender in all, MICROCOCCA, Benth 



6. C. Mercurialis, Thioaites Enum. 271 ; annual, herbaceous, nearly 

 glabrous, leaves ovate obtuse crenate, racemes numerous capillary glabrous, 

 stamens few or many, ovary hirsute with 3 linear scales. Muell. Arq. in 

 DC. Prodr. xv. ii. 790. Mercurialis alternif olia , Desv. in Lam/c. Encycl. iv. 

 120 ; Baill. Etudes Gen. Euphorb. 490, and Eec. Obs. Bot. i. 76 ; Grali. 

 Cat. Bomb. PL 186. Microstachys Mercurialis, Benth. in Hook. Niger 

 Flora 503 ; Dalz. $ Gibs. Bomb. Fl. 227. Tragia Mercurialis, Linn. Sp. PL 

 Ed. 3, 1391 (excl. var. /3. and syns.} ; Roxb. Fl. Ind. iii. 576 ; Wall. Cat. 



Iconogr. t. 205, f. 4. 



BEHAR ; at Monghir, Wallich. The DECCAN PENINSULA, in cultivated ground' 

 common. BURMA, Wallich. CEYLON ; very common. DISTRIB. Arabia and 

 Tropical Africa. 



Stem 6-24 in., stout or slender, soft, pale, often much branched, minutely pubes- 

 cent with soft long hairs. Leaves 1 li in.; base acute or obtuse, rarely cordate ; 

 nerves 4-5 pair, slender ; petiole ^ | in., .very slender. Racemes equalling or exceeding 

 the leaves ; bracts very remote ; flowers short- or long-pedicelled, fern, usually solitary 

 with several males. Sepals glabrous. Stamens very variable in number, rarelv only 

 3, often 5-10, sometimes very numerous in a globose mass in a nearly naked "recep- 

 tacle ; anthers nearly sessile, cells short, dehiscence extrorse. Fem.fl. about -^ in. 

 diam. Capsule ^ in. diam., glabrous or sparsely hairy, tridymous, depressed ; stigmas 

 very short, firnbriate ; cocci globose, thinly crustaceous. Seeds pale brown, deeply 

 foveolate. 



7. C. oligrandrum, Muell. Arg. in Linncea xxxiv. 104, and in DC. 

 Prodr. xv. ii. 784; shrubby, nearly glabrous, leaves long-petioled from 

 ovate- to linear-lanceolate entire or serrate acuminate, racemes filiform 

 longer than the leaves, flowers minute males arising from distant minute 

 spikelets of imbricating bracteoles, stamens 5-18, ovary silky with 3 linear 

 hypogynous scales. C. longifolium, BailL Etudes Gen. Eiipkorb. 493 (in 

 part} ; Thwaites Enum. 271 (excl. syn. Blume). 



CEYLON ; in the Central Province, ascending to 5000 ft. 



A branching shrub, branches and petioles i-arely pubescent. Leaves 3-8 by f-lj in., 

 rather membranous, very rarely puberulous beneath ; base obscurely 2-glandular, 

 acute, rarely obtufie ; nerves suberect ; petiole 1-2^ in. Racemes solitary, curved or 

 flexucus; spikelets very distant, -Y^-y 1 ^ in. long; pedicels about as long or less. Fila- 

 ments short, mixed with stipitate radiating glands. Capsule very small ; cocci globose. 

 Mueller distinguishes as a variety a form with leaves obtuse at the base and few 

 (5-8) stamens, but acute and obtuse based leaves occur on the same specimen, and the 

 number of stamens varies excessively. 



