EUPHORBIACEAE 



SPURGE FAMILY 



GLANDULAR CROTON 



Croton glandulosus L. var. scptrnirionalis Muell. Arg. 



Most members of the Spurge family live in warm- 

 climated countries and contain a milky juice; some of 

 them contain an appreciable amount of rubber. A common 

 cultivated plant of this 

 family is the Castor-oil 

 Bean. 



The Glandular Croton 

 is found in sandy soil from 

 Virginia to Indiana and 

 Illinois, south to Florida 

 and Texas. It also occurs 

 in the West Indies and 

 South America. Although 

 not common in Illinois, it is 

 likely to be found in any of 

 the sandy regions of the 

 state. 



It is an annual herb, usually dark 

 green. The rather slender, more or less 

 branched stem grows 8-30 inches high and 

 bears the alternate, coarsely toothed leaves, 

 each with 2 glands at the base ot the blade. 



The imperfect flowers are produced 

 from March to late autumn. Each of the 

 staminate flowers, in terminal spikes, con- 

 sists of a 4-parted calyx, 4 petals, a 4-rayed 



glandular disk and 8 stamens. The pistillate flowers are clustered 

 at the base of the staminate spike. Each has 5 sepals, very 

 rudimentary petals and a pistil with 3 styles whose stigmas are 

 2-cleft. The fruit is a 3-seeded capsule. 



The Three-seeded Mercury, Acalyplia virginica L., is a mem- 

 ber of this family common in fields and waste places. The long- 

 petioled, ovate leaves are coarsely toothed and they often turn 

 purplish. Staminate and pistillate flowers are in the same axillary 

 cluster and are subtended by a large, palmately lobed bract. 

 The capsule is decidedly 3-lobed and the seeds are nearly smooth. 

 The plant ranges from Nova Scotia to Minnesota, south to Florida 

 and Texas. It blooms from July to September. 



181 



