453 



EUPHORBIACEAE. 



VOL. II. 



2. Acalypha virginica L. Virginia 

 Three-seeded Mercury, Mer- 

 cury-weed. Fig. 2722. 



Acalypha virginica L. Sp. PI. 1003. I 753- 



Dark green or becoming purplish, some- 

 what pubescent. Stem erect or ascending, 

 3'-2 tall ; leaves ovate or elliptic, ID"-/).' long, 

 thin, coarsely serrate except near the base ; 

 staminate and pistillate flowers in the same 

 axillary clusters, the staminate spike pedun- 

 cled, usually included in the large palmately 

 lobed bract; pistillate flowers 1-3 at the base 

 of the staminate peduncle; capsule 3-lobed, 

 subglobose, about ii" in diameter, smooth, 

 sometimes slightly pubescent; seeds ovoid, 

 reddish, striate. 



In woods and thickets, Nova Scotia to Minne- 

 sota, Florida and Texas. Occurs at 3000 ft. in 

 Georgia. Upper leaves commonly forming a 

 flat-topped cluster. June-Oct. 



3. Acalypha gracilens A. Gray. Slender 

 Three-seeded Mercury. Fig. 2723. 



Acalypha gracilens A. Gray, Man. 408. 1848. 



Acalypha virginica var. gracilens Muell. Arg. 

 Linnaea 34: 45. 1865. 



Pale green, pubescent, often densely glandu- 

 lar. Stem slender, erect, 4'-2j tall, usually 

 branched, the branches often nearly filiform, 

 spreading or divergent; leaves lanceolate or 

 linear-oblong, 5"-2' long, usually firm, acut- 

 ish, serrate, narrowed to a short petiole; 

 staminate and pistillate flowers in the same 

 axillary clusters; staminate spike very slen- 

 der, usually exceeding the many-cleft bract; 

 pistillate flowers I or several ; capsule subglo- 

 bose, about \\" in diameter; seeds globose- 

 ovoid, dark red, or gray mottled with red, 

 striate-pitted. 



In dry woods and thickets, New Hampshire to 

 Kansas, Florida and Texas. Occurs 2000 ft. in 

 South Carolina. June-Sept. 



7. TRAGIA [Plumier] L. Sp. PI. 980. 1753. 



Monoecious herbs, or shrubs, sometimes climbing, usually armed with stiff stinging hairs. 

 Leaves alternate, toothed or somewhat lobed, mostly cordate, petioled; flowers in racemes, 

 or spicate racemes, bracteolate, apetalous; staminate flowers with a 3~5-parted calyx and 1-3 

 or rarely numerous stamens; pistillate flowers with a 3-8-lobed calyx, the segments entire or 

 pinnatifid, a 3-celled ovary with i ovule in each cavity, and 3 styles, often united to above 

 the middle ; capsule 3-lobed, separating into 3 2-valved carpels ; seeds subglobose ; endosperm 

 fleshy. [From Tragus, the Latin name of Hieronymus Bock, 1498-1553, a German botanist.] 



About 50 species, mostly natives of tropical regions. Besides the following, 4 others occur in 

 *he southern United States. Type species : Tragia volubilis L. 

 Stems not twining. 



Staminate calyx 4-lobed ; stamens 2. i. T. urens. 



Stominate calyx 3-lobed ; stamens 3. 2. T.nepetaefolla. 



Staminate calyx 4-s-lobed ; stamens 4 or 5. 3. T.ramosa. 



Stems tw'ning. 4. T. macrocarpa 



