262 



EUPHOBBIACEAE (SPURGE FAMILY) 



on very short pedicels ; 

 sterile flowers with five- 

 parted calyx, five spatu- 

 late fringed petals alter- 

 nating with as many 

 glands, usually ten sta- 

 mens, or sometimes more, 

 with filaments finely 

 bearded below ; fertile 

 flowers with seven- to 

 twelve-lobed calyx, no 

 petals, and three styles 

 twice or thrice cleft. 

 Seeds gray or brownish, 

 rounded oblong, with a 

 tiny knob or caruncle at 

 the point; they are often 

 an impurity of southern 

 alfalfa seed. (Fig. 184.) 



Means of control 



FIG. 184.-Ho gW OTt (Cretan capita^. X J. p reveni seed produc- 

 tion. Infested grass crops should even be harvested too early, 

 in order to prevent continued fouling of the ground. Roadsides 

 and waste places should be mown often enough to guard neighbor- 

 ing soil from contamination. 



THREE-SEEDED MERCURY 



Acalypha virginica, L. 



Other English names: Wax-balls, Copper-leaf. 



Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 



Time of bloom : June to September. 



Seed-time: August to November. 



Range: Nova Scotia to Minnesota, southward to Florida and 



Texas. 

 Habitat : Rich, moist soil ; a common barnyard weed and a special 



nuisance in clover fields. 



The seeds of this weed, when an impurity in those of clover, 

 are so nearly of the same size and weight that they are almost im- 



