360 EUPHORBIACE^. [Buxus. 



rudimentary. — Female. Sepals 4-12, often imbricate in threes. Ovary 

 3-celled, top 3-lobed ; styles 3, excentric, spreading, persistent, grooved and 

 stigmatic on the inner face ; ovules suspended in pairs in each cell, ana- 

 tropous, raphe dorsal. Capsule coriaceous, 3-celled, loculicidally 3-valved ; 

 cells 1-2-seeded. Seeds pendulous, testa crustaceous shining, base 

 thickened, albumen fleshy ; embryo axile, curved, radicle superior. — 

 Distrib. Europe, Africa, Madagascar, Asia, W. Indies; species 17. — 

 Etym. iri£os of the Greeks. 



B. sempervi'rens, L. ; leaves oblong, flowers crowded sessile. 



Chalk hills, Kent, Surrey, Bucks, Gloster, (indigenous), naturalized elsewhere ; 

 fl. April-May. — A shrub or small tree, 8-12 ft., branches erect or drooping, 

 young pubescent, wood close-grained. Leaves ^-1 in., obtuse or retuse. 

 Spikes small; bracts and sepals obtuse; flowers whitish. Stamens much 

 exserted ; anthers didymous. Ovary globose. Capsule § in., ovoid, 3-horned, 

 wrinkled. Seeds black. — Distrib. From Belgium southd., N. Africa, N. 

 and W. Asia, W. Himalaya. — Bitter and poisonous ; wood used for engraving 

 upon. 



3. MERCURIALIS, Tournef. Dog's Mercury. 



Erect herbs. Leaves opposite, petioled, serrate, stipulate. Floivers 

 mon- di-cecious, minute ; males in interrupted axillary spikes or racemes ; 

 females clustered, spiked or racemose. Sepals 3, valvate. Disk in the 

 female of 2 elongate glands, alternating with the carpels. Stamens 8-20, 

 on a central disk, filaments slender erect ; anther-cells pendulous from a 

 sub-globose connective, extrorse. Ovary 2-celled ; styles long, subulate ; 

 ovule solitary, pendulous. Capsule didymous, outer coat separating from 

 the cartilaginous 2-valved inner. Seeds pitted or wrinkled, funicle 

 thickened ; cotyledons broad. — Distrib. Europe, N. Africa, N. Asia ; 

 species 6. — Etym. unknown. 



1. M. peren'nis, L. ; perennial, hairy, dioecious, stem simple. 

 Shady places, N. to Orkney ; ascends to 1,700 ft. in the Highlands ; Ireland ; 



Channel Islands ; fl. March-April. — Rootstock slender, creeping. Stem 6-18 

 in., solitary, erect, terminal. Leaves larger upwards, upper 2-3 in., shortly 

 petioled, ovate or elliptic-lanceolate, broader and subsessile in M. ova'ta, 

 Steud., crenate-serrate, green, often blue when dry ; stipules minute. 

 Male racemes very slender, long-peduncled ; flowers pedicelled ; sepals 

 acute. Female spikes or racemes shorter, 1-3-fld. ; styles long, recurved, 

 stigmatic all over the front. Capsule % in. diam., hispid. Seeds grey, 

 cuticle white. — Distrib. Europe, N. Africa. 



2. M. annua, L. ; annual, nearly glabrous, stem branched. 



Fields, gardens, in England, a casual in Scotland ; rare in Ireland ; (a colonist ? 

 Wats.) ; fl. July-Oct. — Dioecious, or monoecious (M. ambiyua, L. fil.). Stem 

 6-18 in. Leaves membranous, shortly petioled, ovate or lanceolate, narrowest 

 in the female, acute, base rounded or cordate, shining, crenate-serrate, 

 ciliate. Female clusters with sometimes male flowers intermixed ; styles 



