200 TNITED STATES AND MEXICAN BOUNDARY. 



portion. Bracts of the fertile flowers coarsely and acutely S-toothed^ sparingly ciliate with 

 rigid hairs. Capsule hispid at the summit. According to Dr. Gregg this plant is used by the 

 Mexicans as a wash for sore gums and loose teeth, and as an application to ulcers. It is doubt- 

 ful whether this is A. phleoideSj as that species is said to be an annual. Our plant seems to be 

 nearly allied to A. prunifolia, but that also is described as an annuaL 



AcALYPHA HEDERACEA (n. sp.): e caudice lignoso multicauliSj molliter incano-pubescens seu 

 villosa ; foliis orbiculari-reniformibus longe petiolatis crenato-dentatis ; spicis dioicis (rarissime 

 monoicis) terminalibus pedunculatis, stamineis gracilibus foemineis brevibus crassis^ bracteis 

 obtuse 9-10-dentatis. Damp places^ valley of the Pecos ; Bigeloio. Neuvo Leone and Chihuahua, 

 Gregg^ Edioards. May — September. (No. 648^ 1813 and 1814, Wright. No 4:^Sj Lindheimer.) 

 Plant slender, prostrate, branches 6-15 inches long. Leaves 6-10 lines in diameter, mostly 

 broader than long, truncate or cordate at the base. Staminate spikes 6-10 inches long ; the 

 peduncle often 1-2 inches long. Fertile spikes half an inch long. Bracts cucullate. Fruit 

 hispid. — In one of Mr. Wright's specimens (No. 1813) there are sessile axillary few-flowered 

 fertile spikes, and others that are androgynous, consisting of a short pedunculate staminate 

 spike with a single fertile flower at the base. 



AcALYPHA EADiAJsrs (n, sp.): e basi sufFruticosa multicaulis, pilis longis patentissimls villosa ; 

 foliis longe petiolatis orbiculari-reniformibus inciso T-lS-fidis, lobis sublinearibus ; spicis dioicis 

 terminalibus pedunculatis, stamineis oblongo-linearibus, foemineis crassis ; bracteis obtuse 9-10- 

 dentatis. Western Texas, especially along the lower Rio Grande, and in the adjoining Mexican 

 States. (No. 251, Coll. II,) Texas, Drummond. No, 649, Wright, No. 636, 1070, 2046, and 2500, 

 Berlandier ) This is certainly very near the last, 



but 



It 



it is easily distinguished by its hairiness, and the radiately lobed leaves. 



Tragia URTiciEFOLiA, Michx. FL 2, p. 176 ; Ell. Sk, 2, p. 564. T. betonic^efolia, Nuti. Z. c. p. 

 173. T. brevispica, Engelm. dc Gray^ PI. Lindh. 1, p. 54 ; Scheele in Linncea^ 25, p. 486. 

 Eocky ravines and hill sides. New Mexico, and western Texas, along the Eio Grande to the 

 Gulf. (No. 307, Coll. II. Texas, Lindh. No. 260, Coll. III. Texas, Drummond. No. 1793, 



Wright,) No. 647 of Wright's earlier collection in the same plant with the flowers and fruit in 

 an abnormal state. I can find no sufficient characters for distinguishing this plant from T. 

 urtic^efolia, Mx. The stems are at first upright, but at length prostrate or sometimes even a 



little twining. The length of the spikes is very variable. 



In specimens from Arkansas the 

 fertile flowers have the calyx 6-petalled, and the staminate 4-5-sepalled, 4-5-androus, The 

 stems are somewhat woody at the base. 



Tragia urtic/EFOLIa, var.? laciniata : foliis pedatim 3-partitis, laciniis pinnatifidis, intermedio 

 longiore. Sonora, Mexico, Thurher. No. 1795, Wright. Stem apparently prostrate, 12-15 

 inches long, paniculately branched, hirsute. Leaves 1-1^ inch long, the lower ones on short 

 petioles, upper nearly sessile, pedately divided to the base^ pinnatifidly cut into acute segments or 

 teeth ; the lateral lobes sometimes unequally 2-cleft. Eacemes terminating the short branches, 

 few-flowered, the lowest flower fertile. Calyx and fruit as in the ordinary form, Fruit. A 



(by 



Mr. Schott collected in the 



northwestern part of Sonora specimens of a Tragia that seems intermediate between T. urtic^- 

 folia and this plant. The leaves are oblong- ovate and coarsely toothed, and part of them are 

 2-lobed at the base or somewhat halberd-form, showing the tendency to become pedate. 



TRAaiA RAMOSA, ToTT. m Jnn. Lye. New York, 2, p. 245. T. angustifolia, Nutt. I. c. T. 



