58 EUPIIORBIACI'L'E. Eremocarpus. 



+- +- Anthers erect in the hiul. 

 ++ Lobes of tlic staminate calyx valvate (tlie jjistillate imbricate) : styles divided or none. 



3. Argjrthamnia. Petals and sepals 5. Flowers in axillary spicate clusters. Styles bifid, 



linear. 



4. Bernardia. Petals none. Sepals 3 (or 4). Staminate flowers very .small, in axillary spicate 



clusters ; pistillate terminal. Stigmas sessile, very short, 2-lobed. Densely stellately 

 pulicscent shrubs. 



5. Acalypha. Petals none. Calyx 4- (3-5-) parted. Staminate flowers in axillary ament-like 



s|iikes ; jiibtillate clustered ; all bracteate. Stigmas finely dissected. (A shrub, with 

 dense siniide pubescence.) 



++ ++ Lobes of staminate calyx imbricate : styles simple : glabrous herbs. 



C. Stillingia. Flowers in tenninal spikes, jtistillate below. C'aly.x 2 - 3-cleft. Stamens 2 or 3. 



♦ ♦ Flowers all without perianth, included in a cup-shaped calyx-like involucre. 



7. Euphorbia. Pistillate llower solitary, soon exserted : the staminate numerous, each of a 

 single stamen. Capsule 3-celled, 3-seeded. 



1. EREMOCARPUS, Benth. 

 Flowers monoecious, in axilhiry cyniose fascicles, without involucre and apetalous, 

 and the pistillate without calyx. Staminate calyx 5 - 6-parted, slightly imbricate. 

 Stamens 6 or 7, central on the liairy receptacle (disk obsok;te) : filaments exserted : 

 anthers inflexed in tlie hud. Ovary with 4 or 5 small glands at the base, 1-celled, 

 1-ovuled : style simple, liliforra, stigmatic at the apex. Capsule obovate-ublong, 

 2-valved. Seed smooth and shining : albumen fleshy. Cotyledons broad, cordate, 

 as long as the radicle. — A low heavy-scented annual, with alternate entire 3-nerved 

 petiolate leaves, without stipules. 



1. E. setigerus, Benth. Iloary throughout with a very dense stellate pubes- 

 cence and hi.spid with stiif si)reading hairs : stems stout, dichotomously branched 

 from the base, mostly procumbent or ascending, a foot long or less ; leaves thick, 

 ovate, obtuse, cuneate or rounded at base, h to 2 inches long, on long petioles, the 

 upper crowded and apparently opposite or ternate : staminate flowers pedicelled ; 

 calyx with oblong obtuse segments a line long : pistillate flowers in the lower axils, 

 1 to 3 together : ovary and style densely jiubescent : capsule and seed 2 lines long. 

 — Bot. Sulph. 53, t. 2(3 ; ISliill. Arg. in DC. Prodr. xv'^. 708. Croton sttigerus, 

 Hook. Fl. Bor.-Am. ii. 141. 



Very abundant in diy valleys, especially near the coast, from S. California (San Pedro, Coulter) 

 to the Columbia. 



2. CROTON, I-inn. 



Flowers monu'cious or rarely diueeious, mostly in terminal spikes or racemes, with- 

 out involucre. Staminate calyx 4 -G- (usually 5-) parted, slightly imbricate in the 

 bud. Petals often present, but small or rudimentary, as many as the calyx-lobes 

 and alternating with the glands of a central disk. Stamens 5 to many, on a hairy 

 receptacle : anthers inflexed in the bud. Pistillate calyx usually 5-i)arted, but the 

 petals mostly obsolete. Ovary 3- (2-4-) celled, -with as many dichotomously 

 branched styles : cells 1-ovuled. Seeds smooth and shining, carunculate. Cotyle- 

 dons ovate, flattened, as long as the radicle. — Shrubs or perennial herbs, rarely 

 annuals, scurfy or stellately hairy or sometimes glandular ; leaves alternate, peti- 

 olate, mostly entire, distinctly or obsoletely 2-stipulate. — Miill. Arg. 1. c. 512. 



About 450 species are enumerated, the genus being represented in most tropical and warm- 

 temperate regions, especially in S. America and Mexico. Twenty species are found within the 



