Stillinffia.] euphorbiace^. • 303 



on both sides, on slender petioles, with 2 prominent glands at the base of the- 

 limb. Spikes solitary, 2 to 4 in. long, the first all male, the subsequent ones 

 with 1 to 4 female flowers at the base. Male flowers 6 or more in each clus- 

 ter, very small and yellow. Female pedicels 1 to 2 lines long. Style divided 

 to the middle. Capsule glaucous, nearly globular, but rather acute, about i 

 in. diameter. 



Common as a shrnb, though seldom allowed to grow to a tree, Champion and others. A 

 native of China, and perhaps of the Philippines and the Archipelago, and has heen introduced 

 into India and tropical America. 



2i S. discolor, Champ, in Kew Journ. Bot. vi. 1. A glabrous, more or 

 less glaucous shrub. Leaves oblong or oval-oblong, shortly acuminate, 1-j to 

 3 in. long, glaucous or white underneath, the primary veins numerous and 

 almost transverse. Petioles slender, with 1 or 3 small glands at the summit. 

 Spikes about 2 in. long, dense like those of S. sebifera. Perianth usually 3- 

 lobed. Style as in S. sebifera. Capsule rather smaller and very obtuse. 



Hongkong, Champion, Wright. Also in Malacca. 



3. S. japonica, Sieb. and Zucc. Fam. Nat. M. Jap. i. 87. A glabrous 

 shrub, with slender branches. Leaves from ovate to oblong, 3 to 4 in. long, 

 acuminate or the lower ones obtuse, green on both sides, the primary veins 

 oblique and not numerous. Petioles rather shorter than in the two last, with 3 

 small glands at the base of the limb, sometimes wanting. Spikes slender, 

 about 1 in. long, the clusters rather distant. Male flowers as in the two last 

 species, but few in each cluster and smaller. Style of the females deeply cleft. 

 Capsule rather smaller, obtuse. 



Hongkong, ^re, WrigM, Hance. Also in Japan. 



3. ACALYPHA, Linn. 



Flowers monoecious or dioecious. Perianth small and calyx-like. Male 

 flowers clustered in catkin-like spikes, with a small bract under each cluster. 

 Perianth 4-lobed. Stamens 8 to 16, the anthers distinct, Unear, and wavy or 

 tortuous. Female flowers 1 to 4 together within a leafy bract. Perianth 3- 

 cleft. Styles 3, finely branched. Ovary 3-celled, with 1 ovule in each cell. — 

 Herbs, shrubs or trees. Leaves alternate. Spikes unisexual or androgynous. 



A large genus, widely spread over the warmer regions of the globe. 



1-. A. indica, Linn.; Eoxb. Fl. Ind. iii. 675; Wight, Ic. t. 811. An 

 erect annual of 1 to 3 ft., glabrous, or the young leaves and branches ■slightly 

 hairy. Leaves ovate, toothed, 1 to 2 in. long, on slender stalks. Spikes 

 axillary, interrupted, with 1 to 8 distant orbicular leafy bracts, 3 or 4 lines 

 diameter, each containing 2 to 4 sessile female flowers, and ending in a small 

 slender male catkin, sometimes not longer than the last bract, sometimes twice 

 as long, and occasionally terminated by a single pedunculate 4-lobed flower, 

 often imperfectly female or hermaphrodite. Capsule hairy. Seed smooth. — 

 j[. cMnemsis, Eoxb. I.e. 677. 



In waste places, Champion, Wilford. A common weed in tropical and subtropical Asia 

 and Africa. 



4. MAPPA, Juss. 

 Flowers monoecious or dicecious,- in race.mes or panicles. Perianth , small 



