EUPHORBIACEAE 283 



7. E. HYPERICIFOLIA L. 



An annual, erect, branched, glabrous, plant 20 to 60 ra high-, the 

 branches slender, often purplish. Leaves shortly petioled, thin, oblong, 1 

 to 2.5 cm long, somewhat oblique, obtuse, base broad, rounded or cordate, 

 margins serrulate. Involucres about 1 mm long, in axillary and terminal, 

 leafy, many-flowered cymes, greenish, the glands small, the lobes white 

 or pink, very small. Capsule trigonous, ovoid, about 1.5 mm long, nod- 

 ding. 



In open grass lands, Caloocan, La Loma, etc., fl. Dec-Apr. ; of local 

 occurrence in the Philippines and undoubtedly introduced here. Tropics 

 generally. 



8. E. HiRTA L. (E. pilulifera L.). Batobatonis, Bucasbucas (Tag.); Go- 



landrina (Sp.-Fil.). 



An annual, hispid-pubescent herb usually much-branched from the base, 

 the branches ascending or spreading, up to 40 cm long, simple or forked, 

 often reddish or purplish. Leaves opposite, distichous, elliptic-oblong to 

 oblong-lanceolate, oblique, serrulate, acute, usually blotched with purple 

 in the middle, 1 to .2.5 cm long. Involucres greenish or purplish, about 

 1 mm long, very numerous, in dense, axillary, sessile or short-stalked clus- 

 ters or crowded cymes. Capsules broadly ovoid, 1.5 mm long or less, 

 hairy, 3-angled. 



In open waste places, abundant, fl. all the year; throughout the Phil- 

 ippines, but certainly introduced. Tropics generally. 



9. E. THYMIFOUA Burm. 



An annual, spreading- or prostrate, much-branched, slender, glabrous or 

 somewhat pubescent herb, the stems usually reddish, up to 20 cm in leng^th. 

 Leaves opposite, distichous, somewhat oblique, elliptic to oblong, obtuse, 

 obscurely crenulate, 4 to 7 mm long. Involucres about 1 mm long, purplish, 

 in the axils of much reduced leaves or bracits on crowded short branchtets 

 from the leaf-axils. Capsules pubescent, 3-angled, about 1.5 mm long. 



In open waste places, roadsides, etc., fl. all the year; common and widely 

 distributed in and about towns in the Philippines and certainly introduced. 

 Tropics generally. 



10. E. PEOSTRATA Ait. 



A slender, prostrate or spreading, branched, nearly glabrous annual 

 herb, the stems usually less than 15 cm in length, usually pubescent along 

 one side. Leaves small, short-petioled, elliptic to obovate, rounded, base 

 inequilateral, margins sharply toothed, 5 to 8 mm long. Involucres axil- 

 lary, pedicelled, intermixed with reduced leaves. Capsules glabrous except 

 for the hispid-ciliate keels of the cocci. Similar in appearance to the 

 preceding species. 



In waste places, not common, fl. all the year. A native of tropical 

 America, now widely distributed in the tropics. 



2. BR I DELI A Willdenow 



Shrubs or trees with alternate, entire leaves. Flowers small, monoecious 

 or dioecious, in axillary fascicles, sessile or shortly pedicelled, bracteate. 

 Calyx usually 5-clef t, the lobes valvate. Petals much smaller than the calyx- 

 lobes. Disk broad, in the male flowers cushion-like or adnate to the calyx- 

 tube, in the female flowers often enclosing the ovary. Stamens 5; filaments 

 united below in a column which bears the rudimentary ovary, free above, 



