228 



ECONOMIC BOTANY OF ALABAMA 



Native of Asia. Long cultivated in this country, and running 

 wild in old fields, along fence-rows, in moderately rich woods, etc., 

 mostly in the southern half of the state. (The variety uuihraculi- 

 fcra either does not run wild much, or else it reverts to the or- 

 dinary form when left to itself long enough.) Occasional in the 

 Coosa Valley and Piedmont region, common in the hlack helt and 

 western red hills (where negroes are most numerous), and scat- 

 tered in other parts of the coastal plain. 



EUPHORBIACEAE. Spurge Family. 

 A large family, with 350 genera and over 4,000 species, grow- 

 ing mostly in dry or rich soils and in warm climates. Includes 

 quite a numher of ornamental, medicinal and poisonous plants, 

 and weeds, as well as a few food plants. Many of the species 

 have milky juice, which in certain tropical trees is an important 



Fig. 56. Croton- Alahaiucusis on dry shale bluff of Warrior River, 

 facing west, about ten miles above Tuscaloosa. Photograph by Walter B. 

 Jones, June 21, 1928. 



