EUPHOEBIACEAE. 229 



3. Acalypha ostryaefolia Ridd. Syn. Fl. W. States 33. 1835. 



Acalypha caroliniana FAl.Bot S. C. & Ga.. 2: 640. 1824. Not Walt. 1788 

 Acalypha persimilis Muell. Arg. Linnaea 34: 25, 1865. 



An erect, rather stout annual^ dark green, minutely pubescent, 2-8 dm. 

 tall. Leaves thin or membranous, ovate, 5-10 cm. long, base obtuse or cordate, 

 apex short-acuminate, margin closely and sharply serrate; petiole often as long 

 as the blade; inflorescence spiciform, the male and female separate; male 

 bracts minute, the female conspicuous, lobed; capsule strongly depressed, 

 short, thick, 2-6-laciniate above; seeds reddish-brown, ovoid-globose, apieuiate, 

 the testa warty-wrinkled; caruncle flat, papyraceous, fusiform. 



Waste grounds near Nassau, New Providence : — New .Jersey to Kansas ; South- 

 eastern United States to Mexico; Cuba; I'orto Kico. IIokm-jcam Acaiai-iia. 



4. Acalypha setosa A. Eich. in Sagra, Hist. Cuba 11: 204. 1850. 



An erect annual 3-6 dm. tall, the younger parts hirtulo-pubescent. Leaves 

 ovate, thin, 3-5-nerved, 4-7 X 2.5-5 cm., base obtuse or slightly cordate, apex 

 short-acuminate, margin finely-serrate; inflorescence monoecious, in cylindric 

 spikes, the male axillary, lax-flowered, the female terminal, dense-flowered, 

 3-5 cm. long; female bracts 2-flowered, ovate, 5-6 mm. long, 7-13-partite, the 

 divisions laciniate, papillo-scabrous; calyx-lobes ovate-lanceolate, ciliate ; styles 

 short, thick, 2-6-laeiniate above; seeds reddish-brown, ovoid-globose, apieuiate, 

 1.4 X 1 ni"^- ; testa densely papillo-punctate ; caruncle a single straight mem- 

 branous line. 



Waste grounds near Nassau, New Providence: — Cuba; Ilispaniola ; I'ortd Kico; 

 Mexico to Costa Rica. Setose Acalypha. 



16. PERA Mutis, Vet. Akad. Stockh. 5: 299. 1784. 



Glabrous or pubescent trees, the leaves alternate, short-petioled, entire, 

 coriaceous, penninerved. Inflorescence dioecious or rarely monoecious, pisiform, 

 in the axils of the leaves and at old nodes, short-pedicelled or subsessile, 2-3- 

 bracteate. Flowers sessile in small involucres, very small, apetalous; involucres 

 globose, gaping or valvate in anthesis ; disk none. Male ilowers : calyx minute, 

 valvate, 2-3-fid, or rudimentary or wanting; stamens 2-6; filaments connate 

 at or near the base; anthers dorsally fixed at or near the base, the cells longi- 

 tudinally contiguous and dehiscent. Female flowers: calyx none or reiUiced to 

 scales; ovary 3-celled; styles short; stigmas thick, peltate, disciform, or 3- 

 lobed; ovules solitary in each cell. Capsule globose or pyrif orm ; pericarp 

 firm, dehiscent into 3, 2-cleft valves; seeds ovoid or obovate, compres-sed ; testa 

 crustaceous, black and shining; endosperm thick, fleshy; cotyledons plane, 

 broad. [Greek, a pouch.] About 25 species, of tropical America. Type 

 species: Pera arhoi'ea Mutis. 



1. Pera bumeliaefolia Griseb. Xachr. Ges. Wiss. Goctt. 1865: ISO. 1865. 



A small tree up to 12 m. high, or shrubby, with slender branches, the 

 petioles and involucres densely ferruginoous-lepidote. Leaves olive-green, 

 7-9 X 2-3 em., elliptic-lanceolate, obtusely acuminate, narrowed to the petiole, 

 shining above, dull and sparsely lepidote-punctato beneath; petioles about 1.5 

 cm. long, slender; male calyx globose-ellipsoid, 4-5-lacerate-dentate (as many 

 toothed as there are anthers) ; capsule oliviform, the pericarp transversely 

 sharp-wrinkled when dry; seeds flattene<l-pyrifon(^, guping open at the aj>ex, 

 black and shining, minutely shallow-punctate, 5 X ^-^ n^'"- 



Coppices of Andros and New I'rovidonoo : — Cul)a. Peha. lii.ACK Khony. 



