576 XCVIII. EUPHORBIACEiE [Tritaxis 



Tritaxis (?) Beddomei, Benth. Tinnevelli, foot of ghats. Quite glabrous, 1. alternate, 

 entire or with very shallow teeth, perminerved, pale beneath, ovate-oblong, blade 3-4, 

 pet. J— J in. <J fl. J in. across, in lax pedunculate terminal compound cymes, calyx 

 4-lobed, petals oblong much longer than calyx-segments, stamens 8, the 2 or 3 inner 

 combined into a slender column, filaments of the outer free, anthers broadly oblong, 

 cells contiguous, parallel. ? fl. and fr. unknown. 



19. JATROPHA, Linn. ; Fl. Brit. Incl. v. 382. 



Perennial herbs, shrubs or trees, often prickly. L. alternate, often digitately 

 lobed, stipules mostly ciliate. Fl. monoecious, in terminal cymes, the central 

 fl. usually $.. Sepals 5, imbricate, often petaloid, petals 5, contorted, free or 

 connate. £ : Stamens 8-12, all or the inner only connate, disk entire or of 5 

 glands. 5 : Ovary 2-4-celled, styles connate below, 2-fld. Capsule of 2-4 

 two-valved cocci. Species 70, chiefly American. 



A. Petals free or nearly so. 



1. J. glandulifera, Eoxb. Vern. Jangli Arandi, Mar. ; Nela Amidam, Tel. Western 

 Peninsula. — Ceylon. Tropical Africa. A small evergreen tree, edges of leaves, inflor- 

 escence, bracts and calyx with long stipitate glands, petioles naked. L. palmately 

 3-5-lobed, stipules divided into long capillary gland-tipped segments. Petals oblong, 

 yellow, stamens 8, monadelphous, capsule J in. long. 2. J. gossypifolia, Linn. Lai 

 Bharenda, Beng. Native of Brazil, cultivated and run wild in many parts of India 

 and Burma. Similar to 1, petioles with numerous fascicled and branched glandular 

 bristles, sepals lanceolate, densely glandular-ciliate, petals red, obovate. 3. J. multifida, 

 Linn. Native of South America, cultivated and run wild in Bengal and the Peninsula. 

 Glabrous, 1. orbicular, palmately cut into numerous narrow entire or subdivided seg- 

 ments, blade 3-9 in. diani., petiole as long. Peduncle and fl. scarlet. 



4. J. nana, Dalz. and Gibs. Dry stony places near Poona. A glabrous undershrub, 

 no glandular bristles, 1. entire or 3-lobed, lobes entire, petiole short, stout. 



B. Petals cohering to the middle or beyond it. 



5. J. Curcas, Linn. Vern. Safed Arand, Hind. ; Bag Verendi, Beng. ; Kadu-liaralu, 

 Kan.; Adivi Amidam, Tel.; Thinbaw-Kyetsu, Burin. Indigenous in tropical America, 

 cultivated in most tropica] countries, naturalized in India. Makes excellent hedges, 

 cut branches sprout readily. A soft-wooded shrub or small tree, young shoots and 

 cymes often pubescent, otherwise glabrous. L. angular or 3-5-lobed, blade 4-6 in., 

 pet. as long as blade. PI. yellowish-green, stamens 10, the 5 inner connate into a 

 central column. Capsule 1-1J in. long. 



6. J. Wightiana, Muell. Arg. — Syn. J. pellata, Wight Ic. 1. 1169. Stony plains at the 

 foot of the hills near Coimbatore. A low shrub, shoots rusty-villous, eglandular. 

 L. peltate, tomentose beneath, entire or with 5-7 obtuse entire lobes, blade 4-6 in. 

 diam., pet. as long as blade. PL pale yellow. 



Aleurites moluccana, Willd. ; Bedd. PI. Sylv. t. 276. — Syn. A. triloba, Porst. Indian 

 Walnut. Indigenous px-obably in the Malay Archipelago, cultivated in most tropical 

 and subtropical countries, and here and there naturalized. A large evergreen tree, 

 shoots, young 1., petioles and inflorescence densely clothed with brownish or grey stellate 

 tomentum, 1. ovate to ovate-triangular, often lobed, blade 4-12, pet. 2-5 in. PI. 

 monoecious, white, in large cymose terminal panicles, calyx velvety, bursting into 2 

 valvate lobes, petals five, J in. long. $ : Stamens 15-20, on a hairy receptacle. 

 Ovary 2-celled, hairy, styles bifid to the base. Drupe 2-2i in. diam., seeds large oily. 

 2. A. cordata, Steudel. A tree of China and Japan. Cultivated in North- West India. 

 L. glabrous, broadly ovate-cordate, often deeply lobed, petals 1 in. long. Yields the 

 wood oil of China, sometimes called Ningpo Varnish. 



20. CROTON, Linn. ; PI. Brit. Ind. v. 385. 



Trees or shrubs, rarely herbs, usually with stellate hairs or orbicular scales, 

 consisting of radiating cells, often separate at the ends, intermediate between 

 scales and stellate hairs. L. alternate, rarely opposite or whorled. PI. as a 

 rule monoecious, in terminal spiciform racemes, $ at the base. Calyx 5-parted, 

 petals in the 3 alternating with calyx-segments, in the $ often wanting, 

 disk glands opposite to sepals. S: Stamens 10-30, inserted on a central 

 hairy receptacle, filaments free, inflexed in bud. Ovary 2—4-, generally 3- 



