EUPHORBIACEA, 55 
It has a pleasant aroma but is a useless cosmopolitan weed. The French 
speasants value it as a herb tea. It seeds freely but can be kept down by 
good cultivation. 
Chenopodium (Roubieva) multifidum, L. has recently appeared, and isa 
native of South America, whence it has spread as a weed into North 
America, and thence reached Australia. 
EuPHorRBIACE& (SPURGE F amity). 
A-large and widely spread order, characterized by reduced unisexual 
Rlowers—Mercurialis (Dog’s Mercury), Ricinus (Castor Oil)—often com- 
‘bined in little green flower-like clusters, surrounded by green glands 
(Euphorbia). In nearly all cases, the plants contain a milky sap, which in 
some species is intensely at but in others acts more or less as a 
tonic or purgative. Many vield oil (Castor Oil), used for various purposes, 
and the roots of some are used as food. 
The Box (Buxus) and Porusettia are often grown in gardens, the latter 
for its coloured bracts. One species of Manihot vields Ceara rubber, others 
yield Cassave bread or arrowroot, obtained from the fleshy roots after the 
poisonous principle in the sap has been driven offi by heat or removed by 
washing, 
RE Ricinus communis, L. Castor Oil Plant. It is a garden escape, and 
thas -been known to act injuriously upon cows browsing upon it. Apart 
from the castor oil of the seeds, the plant, leaves, and oil cake contain a 
; poisonous albuminoid, ricinin, in small amount. This substance is highly 
poisonous, causing agglutination of the blood, and the oil cake has been 
known to cause the death of horses. Neverthéless, both the leaves and 
oil cake are given in India to cattle as food, mixed with other fodder, and 
are supposed to increase the secretion of milk. 
Euphorbia, a large genus of herbs and shrubs, many of the tropical 
Species resembling cacti, and some species cosmopolitan, 
Euphorbia Peplus, L. The Lesser Spurge. A small, weak annual, not 
poisonous, but often a nuisance in gardens, its seeds lying dormant in the 
soil for years, and coming up at intervals. It can be kept down by fre- 
quent hoeing and stirring. The plant is green, and has smooth seeds. ZL. 
Peplis, L., is similar, but often hzs a purple colour, is prostrate, and has 
not yet appeared in the Staite. 
Le. helioscopia, L. The Sun Spurge. A native of Europe and North 
Asia. It is a larger plant, whose green ‘‘flowers’’ face to the sun. It is 
also an annual, sometimes over a foot high, but usually less. Its green 
colour, size, and pitted seeds distinguish it from the first two species. It 
ds a common weed: of cultivated and waste places, very difficult to keep 
‘down, but not very serious on account of its comparatively small size; 
slender habit, and annual character. It is not appreciably poisonous, and 
is ‘not as yet very common in Victoria, though it appears to be spreading. 
£. Lathyris, L. The Caper Spurge. <A native of Southern Europe. 
A tall plant, three feet high or more, with narrow leaves on the stem and 
wrinkled seeds. It is often cultivated in gardens, and is apt to spread 
thence to adjoining ground. Though not strongly poisonous, the plant acts 
as an emetic or purgative when eaten in quantity. 
ae Of the native Euphorbias, three species are commonly regarded as 
‘being poisonous to sheep, but one, &. alsineflora, Bail., is not confieed to 
Northern Australia; the other two are undoubtedly not poisonous under 
ordinary conditions. 
