EUPHORBIA — SPURGE. 241 



witli glandular, scaly, or petaloid appendages. Stamens few or many, 

 separate or united into one or more bundles. Ovary free, usually 3-celled, 

 each cell with a single or sometimes a pair of suspended ovules ; stigmas 

 or branches of the style as many or twice as many as the cells. Fruit usu- 

 ally a 3-lobed pod, the lobes or carpels separating elastically from a per- 

 sistent axis ; seeds often arillate. 



In the tropics a very large and important order, containing many acrid 

 and poisonous plants. Represented in North America by only a few gen- 

 era, comprising a small number of medicinal species. 



EUPHORBIA. —Spurge. 



Character of the Genus. — Flowers monoecious, collected into heads, sur- 

 rounded by a 4- to 5-lobed involucre, which resembles a calyx or corolla. 

 Within the involucre are a number of stamens surrounding a stalked 

 ovary, the whole resembling a single flower ; but as each stamen is jointed 

 on a pedicel, and j^roceeds from the axil of a bract, it is considered as a 

 separate flower, hence each involucre includes a number of staminate 

 flowers, each consisting of a single stamen, surrounding a solitary, stalked 

 pistillate flower. Ovary 3-lobed, 3-celled ; styles 3, each 2-cleft, Pod 

 3-lobed, si^litting elastically into 3 one-seeded, 2-valved carpels. 



A very large genus, represented in North America by numerous herba- 

 ceous species. All of them are characterized by a more or less acrid, milky 

 juice. 



Euphorbia corollata Linne. — Large-Flowering Spurge. 



Description. — Stems several from a large branching root ; erect, nearly 

 simple, 2 to 3 feet high, glabrous or sometimes Sparingly hairy. Leaves 

 ovate, lanceolate, or linear, entire, obtuse, only the upjjermost or floral 

 ones whorled or opposite. Flowers in 5- to 7-rayed umbels, the rays 2- to 

 5-forked ; involucres white, petaloid, showy, on long peduncles. Pod 

 smooth, on a slender pedicel. 



Habitat. — In rich or sandy soil from New York to Wisconsin and south- 

 ward. 



Euphorbia Ipecacuanhae Linne. — Ipecacuanha Spurge. 



Description. — Stems numerous from a long, deep perennial root, erect 

 or difiiisely spreading, 5 to 10 inches high, branching dichotomously from 

 near the base. Leaves obovate, oblong, or narrowly linear, nearly sessile, 

 glabrous, all or only the upper ones opposite. Peduncles axillary, elongated. 

 Involucre petaloid, 4- to 5-lobed, with the same number of obtuse glands. 

 Pod long-pedicelled, obtusely angled, nearly smooth. 



Habitat. — In sandy soil near the coast from New York southward. 



Several other indigenous species of euphorbia have been used medici- 

 nally, but those described above are believed to well represent the genus 

 as found in North Ameiica. 



