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A GUIDE TO THE WILD FLOWERS 



277. Stem leaves obvious. (Nos. 278-303.) 



Leaves alternate no. 280 



Leaves opposite. 



Leaves often red blotched, faintly toothed, short stalked 



Spotted Spurge no. 278 



Leaves green, deeply toothed, long stalked 



Stinging Nettle no. 279 



278. Spotted Spurge. Chamaesyce Prcslii. {Euphorbia 

 Preslii.) {Euphorhiaceae.) An erect, often branched weed 

 8-20 in. tall, with opposite leaves and a milky juice. Leaves 

 generally oblong, with a short slender stalk, often red 

 blotched and red margined. Flowers reddish white, without 

 petals, very small, in few-flowered clusters from the base of 

 the leaf stalk. In fields and waste places. Ontario to Mass., 

 south to Florida and westward. May-October. Fig. 278. (See 

 also Nos. 252, 268, 419, 447, and 528-530.) 



279. Stinging Nettle. Urtica dioica. (Urticaceac.) A stout 

 herb 2-4 ft. tall densely clothed with stinging hairs. Leaves 

 opposite, coarsely toothed, long-stalked, the blade 3-5 in. 

 long, and about half as wide, pointed at the tip, rounder or 

 heart-shaped at the base. Flowers green, very small, in a 

 much branched cluster near the leaf stalks. A weed of waste 

 places from Newfoundland and Ontario to So. Carolina and 

 westward. Native of Europe. August. Fig. 279. A related 

 species, Urtica gracilis, also stinging, has narrower long- 

 pointed leaves, and is apparently a native plant with the 

 same range as U. dioica. For other plants of this family see 

 Nos. 265 and 281, 



