16 



Argentina, but is altogether alien to the native flora of South 

 America, and it so well matches E. dictyosperma Fisch. & Mey. and 

 the minor segregates in its vicinity as to suggest that the alleged 

 Argentina endemic is but the North American weed, introduced in 

 the regions of the Plata before 1780. It is characteristic that Norton 

 lists (in Rept. Mo. Bot. Gard. 11:104. 1900) a Moyer specimen 

 from Montevideo under Euphorbia arkansana Engel. &; Gray var. 

 missouriensis. 



In view of the widespread range and of the aggressiveness of 

 P. nuinmulariaefolius I have been looking forward to finding it 

 recorded within the continental limits of the United States some- 

 where along the coast between Texas and the Carolinas. My antici- 

 pations have been only very recently fulfilled by the finding of two 

 specimens in the herbarium of the N. Y. Botanical Garden, namely : 

 Moldenke 181, Orlando, Fla., 1929, and Rapp 3, Sanford, Fla., 

 1932, which unmistakably belong to this species. So far, I have 

 seen no other specimens collected in the United States and accept, 

 consequently, Moldenke 181 as the first record of P. nummiila- 

 riaefoHiis for the flora of the United States, exclusive of its ter- 

 ritories and dependencies. 



Phyllanthiis lathyroides is reported by J. K. Small for Florida 

 (Man. Southeast. Fl. 778. 1933), but he does not mention either 

 P. nummulariaej alius or its synonyms, P. tenellus and P. corcova- 

 densis. Since the Moldenke and the Rapp records have been origi- 

 nally misdetermined as P. lathyroides, and the former has certainly 

 been seen by Small when at work on the Manual, I suspect that 

 the record of P. lathyroides in Small's work is based upon a mis- 

 determination. I have not seen material of P. lathyroides from 

 Florida, but this species . is likely to have been introduced there, 

 and Small may thus have seen authentic specimens which are now 

 not preserved in the herbarium of the N. Y. Botanical Garden. He, 

 at any rate, failed to record P. nummulariaej alius. 



Taxonomists who are interested in learning how to distinguish 

 P. lathyroides from P. nummulariaej alius should study actual speci- 

 mens rather than rely upon the compilations and the colorless 

 descriptions so frequently found in the literature. The two species 

 are quite distinct and excellent material of both is preserved in 

 the herbarium of the N. Y. Botanical Garden. The following speci- 

 mens represent P. lathyroides in that herbarium: (1) Brittan, 



