Voi,. II.] 



SPURGE FAMILY. 



377 



19. Euphorbia Ipecacuanhae L,. Wild 

 Ipecac. Ipecac Spurge. (Fig. 2325.) 



Euphorbia Ipecacuanhae L,. Sp. PI. 455. 1753. 



Perennial by a deep perpendicular root, 

 glabrous or pubescent. Stems several or many, 

 slender, spreading, ascending or nearly erect, 

 4 / -io / long, branched; leaves green or red, 

 wonderfully variable in outline from linear to 

 orbicular, 5 // ~3 / long, mostly opposite, entire, 

 the upper sometimes whorled, the lower often 

 alternate, short-petioled ; involucres axillary, 

 mostly hemispheric, nearly i // long, slender- 

 peduncled; bearing 5 transversely elliptic or 

 oblong green sessile unappendaged glands; 

 capsule ~iy 2 " in diameter, nodding; seeds 

 light gray, oblong-ovoid or ovoid, i%" long, 

 pitted, obscurely 4-sided. 



In dry sandy soil, Connecticut to Florida, 

 mostly near the coast. Also in southern Indiana. 

 An emetic. May-Oct. 



21. Euphorbia Lathyris L. Caper 

 or Myrtle Spurge. (Fig. 2327.) 



Euphorbia Lathyris L. Sp. PI. 457. 1753. 



Annual or biennnial, glabrous, stout, glau- 

 cous. Stem usually erect, stout, S'-3 tall, 

 mostly simple below, umbellately branched 

 above; leaves numerous, the lower scattered, 

 those subtending the umbel verticillate, the 

 lower linear, reflexed, the upper lanceolate or 

 linear-lanceolate, ij^'-s' long, entire, sessile, 

 subcordate at the base; bracts opposite, ovate 

 or ovate-lanceolate, truncate or subcordate; 

 involucres 2^" long, bearing 4 crescent- 

 shaped unappendaged glands prolonged into 

 short horns; capsule subglobose, 5 // -6 // in 

 diameter, its lobes rounded; seeds oblong- 

 ovoid, 2^ // -3 // long, terete, usually wrinkled. 



In waste places, New Jersey to North Carolina. 

 Also in California. Native of Europe. Called 

 also Wild Caper, Caper-bush, Mole-tree or Mole- 

 plant and Spring-wort, its seeds a cathartic. 

 May-Aug. 



20. Euphorbia heterophylla I,. 

 Various-leaved Spurge. (Fig. 2326.) 



Euphorbia heterophylla L. Sp. PI. 453. 1753. 



Annual or biennial, bright green, pubes- 

 cent or nearly glabrous. Stem mostly erect, 

 i-3 tall, woody below, with the branches 

 ascending, or the lower spreading, leafy at 

 the ends; leaves alternate, very variable, 

 linear toorbicular, entire, undulate, sinuate or 

 dentate, the uppermost often fiddle-shaped 

 and blotched with red; all slender-petioled; 

 involucres clustered at the ends of branches, 

 \W long, about equalling the peduncles; 

 cleft into 5 ovate or oblong laciniate lobes, 

 the sinuses bearing i or several sessile glands 

 without appendages; capsule glabrous or 

 minutely pubescent, 3" in diameter; seeds 

 oblong-ovoid, 1%" long, transversely wrin- 

 kled and tuberculate. 



Illinois to Montana, Florida and Central Amer- 

 ica. Widely distributed in tropical America. 

 April-Nov. 



