486 ANGIOSPERMS 
Spurge Family (Huphorbiaceae). — The Spurge family con- 
tains many species, many of which are tropical. The flowers 
are commonly small, hypogynous, and unisexual. The perianth 
is usually simple and sometimes absent. The stamens range 
from one to many, and the pistil is composed of three united 
carpels (Fig. 433). The plants usually contain a milky juice, 
which in many species is poisonous. A few of them are common 
weeds, usually growing prostrate in gardens and truck patches. 
Fig. 433. — Flowers and fruit of the Flowering 
Spurge (Euphorbia corollata). At the right, a por- 
tion of a plant in flower; above, at the left, a 
flower cluster consisting of one pistillate flower and 
a number of staminate flowers enclosed by an in- 
volucre (i) bearing appendages resembling petals; raps = 2 
at the right of the flower cluster, a single stami- Le Os eS 
nate flower with anther at a; below, at the left, 7 ‘ z i 
a flower cluster with staminate flowers removed Fria. 484. — The Hevea 
to show the pistillate flower; below, at the right,a tree, one of the plants 
pistillate flower in fruit, showing the ovary (c), the from the milk-juice of 
stigma (s), and the involucre (i). In part after which India rubber is ob- 
Bergen and Caldwell. tained. After Lecomte. 
The Castor Bean, from which castor oil is obtained, is one of the 
large species of our region. Some are trees, as for example the 
Hevea tree (Fig. 434) of South America from which India rubber 
is obtained. Tapioca is obtained from the Cassava plant, a 
plant of the Spurge family and native of Brazil. A number are 
useful for medicine, and some, as the Castor Bean, Poinsetta, 
and some others, are ornamental plants. 
Between the Pea family and the Spurge family is usually 
placed the Flax family (Linaceae) to which the cultivated Flax 
