890 EUPIIORBIACE^. (si'LKiii: FAMILY.) 



* Fruit smooth or merely pubcsmif. 



1. A Yil'lrfliica, L. Leaven ovate or oblong-ovate, obtusely and sparsdy ser- 

 rate, long-pet iulul ; st< rile sj>ike rather few-flowered, mostly shorter than the deeply 

 palnnttly-clcft fruiting bracts. Fields and open places ; common. July- Sept. 

 A homely weed, l-2 high, smoothish or rather hairy, often turning pur- 

 plish in autumn. Fertile flowers 1 - 3 in each axil, along with the small and 

 short-pedunclcd sterile spike : bracts very large and leaf-like, unequally cut into 

 5-9 lanceolate lobes. 



2. A. gracilcilS* Leaves lanceolate, oblong-lanceolate, or linear, obscurely 

 serrate, short-petioled, mostly obtuse ; sterile spike long and slender, much longer tlian 

 the cut-toothed bract. Sandy dry soil, Rhode Island to Illinois, and common 

 southward. A somewhat downy plant, 6' -12' high; the heart-ovate fruiting 

 bract sharply cut-toothed, or barely cleft at the sides ; the sterile spike frequently 

 1' long and half the length of the leaves. Perhaps runs into the last. Var. 

 MONOCOCCA, Engelm., is a narrow and nearly entire-leaved form, with only one 

 cell to the fruit, and the seed larger. Western Illinois. 



* * Fruit echinate with soft bristly green projections. 



3. A. Caroliilifilia, Walt. Leaves thin, ovate-cordate, sharply and closely 

 serrate-toothed, abruptly acuminate, long-petioled ; sterile spikes short ; the fer- 

 tile ones mostly terminal and elongated, its bracts deeply cut into many linear 

 lobes. (A. ostryajfolia, Riddell.) New Jersey (Princeton, Torrey), Ohio, and 

 southward. 



4. TR\OIA, Plumier. TRAGIA. 



Flowers monoecious, in racemes, apetalous. Ster. Fl. Calyx 3-parted. Sta- 

 mens 2 or 3 : filaments short, distinct. Pert. FL Calyx 5-8- (mostly 6-) 

 parted, persistent. Style 3-cleft : stigmas 3, simple. Pod 3-celled, 3-lobed, 

 bristly, separating into three 2-valved 1-seeded carpels. Erect or climbing 

 plants (perennial herbs in U. S.), pubescent or hispid, with mostly alternate 

 leaves ; the small-flowered racemes terminal or opposite the leaves (rarely axil- 

 lary) ; the sterile flowers above, the few fertile at the base, all with small bracts. 

 (Named for the early herbalist Tragus.) 



1. T. lireilS, L. Erect, paniculate-branched, softly hairy-pubescent (1 

 high) ; leaves varying from obovate-oblong to lance-linear, acute at the base, ob- 

 tusely or sinuately few-toothed or lobed, sometimes entire, short-petioled or sessile. 

 Dry ground, Virginia and southward. May -Aug. (A bad name for the 

 species ; for the hairs are not at all stinging nor sharp. Walter's name, T. in- 

 nocua, should supersede it.) 



2. T. lirticifolia, Michx. Erect or reclining, hirsute ; leaves ovate-lanceo- 

 late or triangular-lanceolate, or the lower ovate, all somewhat cordate or truncate at 

 the base, coarsely cut-toothed, short-petioled. Virginia (Pursh), and common 

 southward. 



3. T. Hiacrocarpa, Willd. Twining, somewhat hirsute; leaves deeply 

 cordate, ovate, sharply serrate (3' long), all but the uppermost long-petioled (pod 

 ' br*ad). (T. cordata, Michx.) Ken' ucky (Michaux), and southward. 



