542 EUPHORBIACEAE (SPCRGE FAMILY) 



* Sterile flowers irith i-partecl calyx, as many petals, a i-rayed disk, and 8 



stamens; fertile floioers withb-parted calyx, very minute rudimentary petals, 

 and the 3 styles 2-cleft. 



1. C. glandul5sus L., var. septentrionalis Muell. Arg. Annual, rough- 

 hairy and glandular, 3-6 dm. high, somewhat umbellatelj'^ branched ; leaves 

 oblong or linear-oblong, obtusely toothed, the base with a saucer-shaped gland 

 on each side ; fertile flow^ers captitate-clustered at the base of the sterile spike, 

 sessile in the forks and terminal. — Open waste places and sandy barrens, Va. 

 to Fla., and Tex. ; north w. in Miss, basin to Kan., la., 111., and Ind. ; rarely on 

 ballast northeastw. 



* * Sterile flowers with b-parted calyx, as many glands alternating with the petals, 



and 10-14 stamens ; fertile flowers vjith 7-12-parted calyx, no petals, and 

 the 3 styles twice or thrice 2-parted. , 



2. C. capitatus Michx. Annual, densely soft- woolly and somewhat glandu- 

 lar, 2-6 or more dm. high, branched ; leaves long-petioled, lance-oblong or 

 elongated-oblong, rounded at base, entire ; petals obovate-lanceolate, densely 

 fimbriate ; fertile flowers several, capitate-crowded at the base of the short ter- 

 minal sterile spike. — Barrens, N. J. to Fla, and Tex. ; northw. in Miss, basin to 

 Ind., 111., Mo., and Kan. July-Sept. 



* * * Sterile flowers vnth unequally S-6-parted calyx, as many petals and scale- 



like glands, and 3-8 stamens; fertile flowers loith equally b-parted calyx, no 

 petals, 5 glands, and 2 sessile 2-parted stigmas. 



3. C. monanth6gynus Michx. Annual, whitish-stellate-pubescent and rusty- 

 glandular ; stems 1.4-6 dm. high, slender, erect, below often umbellately 3-4- 

 forked, then repeatedly 2-3-forked or alternately branched ; leaves oblong-ovate 

 or narrowly oblong, entire, often acutish, 1.5-3 dm. long, about twice the length 

 of the petioles ; flowers in the forks, the sterile few on the summit of a short 

 and erect peduncle, the fertile few and clustered or mostly solitary on short 

 recurved peduncles ; ovary 2-celled ; fruit often by abortion 1-celled and 1- 

 seeded ; the seed broadly oval. — Barren and dry prairies, s. Ind. to N. C. and 

 Fla., w. to la., e. Kan., and Tex. ; occasionally adv. northeastw. June-Sept. 



**** Dioecious ; calyx equally b-parted; petals none; stamens 10 or more; 

 styles twice or thrice dichotomously 2-parted. 



4. C. texensis (Klotzsch) Muell. Arg. Annual, covered with a close canescent 

 stellate pubescence, dichotomously branched or spreading, 3-6 dm. high ; leaves 

 narrowly oblong-lanceolate to linear ; staminate spikes or racemes very short, 

 often sessile ; capsule stellate-tomentose and somewhat muricate. — Sandy soil, 

 Del. {Commons) ; and from Ala. to Wyo., Col., Ariz., and Mex. ; rarely on 

 ballast northw. 



3. CR0T0N6pSIS Michx. 



Flowers monoecious, in very small terminal or lateral spikes or clusters, the 

 lower fertile. Ster. Fl. Calyx equally 5-parted, Petals 5, spatulate. Sta- 

 mens 5, opposite the petals ; filaments distinct, inflexed in the bud, enlarged 

 at the apex. Fert. Fl. Calyx unequally 3— 5-parted. Petals none. Glands 

 (petal-like scales) o, opposite the sepals. Ovary 1-celled, simple, 1-ovuled, 

 bearing a twice or thrice forked style. Fruit dry and indehiscent, 1-seeded. 

 Seed without ^caruncle. — A slender low annual, with short-petioled linear or 

 elliptical-lanceolate leaves, which are green and sinoothish above, but silvery- 

 hoary with stellate hairs and scurfy with brownish .scales underneath. (Croton 

 and 6\f/is, appearance, from likeness to Croton.) 



1. C. linearis Michx. Fruit about 2 mm. long. — Dry sandy soil, s. Ct. 

 ( Fames) to Pa., southw. near the coa.st to Fla. and Tex.; inland in Miss., 

 basin to 111., Mo., and Kan. July-Sept. 



