gg EUPHORBIACE^E. Eremocarpus. 



-\ — i- Anthers erect in tlie Lud. 

 ++ Lobes of the staminate calyx valvate (the instillate imbricate) : styles divided or none. 



3 Argythamnia. 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 



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



pulii'seent shrubs. 

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



.s[iikes ; ]iistillate clustered ; all bracteate. Stigmas finely dissected. (A shrub, with 



dense simple pubescence. ) 



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



6. Stillingia. Flowers in terminal spikes, pistillate below. Calyx 2 - 3-cleft. Stamens 2 or 3. 



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



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



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



1. EREMOCARPUS, Benth. 

 Flowers monoecious, in axillary cymose fascicles, Avithout involucre and apetalous, 

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

 Stamens 6 or 7, central on the hairy receptacle (disk obsolete) : filaments exserted : 

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

 1-ovuled : style simple, filiform, stigmatic at the apex. Capsule obovate-oblong, 

 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, witliout stipules. 



1. E, setigei'US, Eenth. Hoary throughout with a very dense stellate pubes- 

 cence and hispid with stiff spreading 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, | 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 pubescent : capsule and seed 2 lines long. 

 — Bot. Sulph. 53, t. 26 ; Mtill. Arg. in DC. Prodr. xv'^. 708. Croton setigerus, 

 Hook. n. Bor.-Am. ii. 141. 



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

 to the Columbia. 



2. CROTON, Linn. 



Flowers monwcious or rarely dicecious, 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-parted, but the 

 petals mostly obsolete. Ovary 3- (2 - 4-) celled, Avith 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-stipidate. — IMiill. 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 



