436 EuniORBiACK^. (spruoK family.) 



1. J. ixrens, L, var. stimulbsa, J. Miilkr. (Tread-soi-tly. Spurge- 

 Nettlk.) Herbaceous, from a lonir perennial root, branching (6'- 2° hijili) ; 

 leaves roun(lish-heart-siiai)cil, 3 -5-lobeil ; the divisions toothed, cut, or even pin- 

 natitid, often discolored ; flowers slender ; tilanicnts 10, nioiiadelphons only at 

 the woolly base, or the outer set almost distinct. (J. stiniulosa, Micli.r. C'ni- 

 doscolus stiniulosus, Ed. 2.) — Dry sandy soil, Virginia on the coast, and south- 

 ward. June - Sept. 



3. STILLINGIA, Garden. Stillixgia. 



Flowers monoecious, aggregated in a terminal spike. Petals and glands of 

 the disk none. Caly.x 2 - 3-cleft or parted ; the divisions imbricated in the bud. 

 Stamens 2 or 3 : anthers adnate, turned outwards. Style thick : stigmas 3, di- 

 verging, simple. Pod 3-celled, 3-lobed, 3-seeded. Seed carunculate. — Smooth 

 upright plants, with the alternate leaves mostly 2-glandular at the base; the 

 fertile flowers few at the base of the dense sterile spike (rarely separate) ; the 

 bract for each cluster with a gland on each side. (Named for Dr. B. StiUiniiJieet.) 



1. S. sylvatiea, L. Herbaceous (l°- 3° high); leaves almost sessile, ob- 

 long-lanceolate, serrulate ; glands of the spike saucer-shaped. — Sandy and dry 

 soil, E. Virginia and southward. June -Sept. 



4. ACALYPHA, L. Three-seeded Mercury. 



Flowers moua?cious ; the sterile very small, clustered in spikes, with the few 

 or solitary fertile flowers at their base, or sometimes in separate spikes. Calyx 

 of the sterile flowers 4-partcd and valvate in the bud ; of the fertile 3-5-parted. 

 Corolla none. Stamens 8-16: filaments short, monadelpTious at the base: 

 anther-cells separate, long, often worm-shaped, hanging from the apex of the 

 filament. Styles 3, the upper face or stigmas cut-fringed (usually red). Pod 

 separating into 3 globidar carpels which split into 2 valves, rarely of only one 

 carpel. — Herbs (ours annuals), or in the tropics often shrubs, with the appear- 

 ance of Nettles or Amaranths ; the leaves alternate, petioled, with stipules. 

 Clusters of sterile flowers with a minute bract ; the fertile surrounded by a 

 large and leaf-like cut-lobed ]K'rsistent bract. ('AKaX»)(^r;, an ancient name of 

 the Nettle.) 



* Fniit smooth or mei-eh/ pnhescent : seeds nearlij s))iooth. 



1. A. Virginica, L. Leaves ovate or oblong-ovate, obtusely and sparsely 

 serrate, long-petioled ; sterile spike rather few-flowered, mostly shorter than the 

 deeply pahnately-cleft fruiting bracts. — Fields and open places : common. 

 July -Sept. — A homely weed, l°-2° high, smoothish or rather hairy, often 

 turning ])ur])lish in autumn. Fertile flowers 1-3 in each axil, along with the 

 small and short-peduncled sterile spike : bracts large and leaf-like, unequally 

 cut into !)-9 lanceolate lobes. — Passes by various forms (belonging to var. 



INTERMEDIA, ./. Mull.) iutO 



Var. gracilens, with lanceolate or even linear leaves, less toothed and 

 shoriir-petioled ; the slender sterile spike often I'long, and miu-h surpassing 

 the less cleft or few-toothed fruiting bracts. (A. gracilens, Ed. 1 ^ 2. A. Vir- 

 giniana, var. gracilescens, J. Miill. A. monococca, Enydm., a reduced form with 



