262 EUPHORBIACEAE (SPURGE FAMILY) 
on very short pedicels; 
sterile flowers with five- 
parted calyx, five spatu- 
late fringed petals alter- 
nating with as many 
glands, usually ten sta- 
mens, or sometimes more, 
with filaments finely 
bearded below; fertile 
flowers with seven- to 
twelve-lobed calyx, no 
petals, and three styles 
twice or thrice cleft. 
Seeds gray or brownish, 
rounded oblong, with a 
tiny knob or caruncle at 
the point; they are often 
an impurity of southern 
alfalfa seed. (Fig. 184.) 
Means of control 
Fic. 184. — Hogwort (Croton capitatus). x }. 
Prevent seed produc- 
tion. Infested grass crops should even be harvested too early, 
in order to prevent continued fouling of the ground. Roadsides 
and waste places should be mown often enough to guard neighbor- 
ing soil from contamination. 
THREE-SEEDED MERCURY 
Acalypha virginica, L. 
Other English names: Wax-balls, Copper-leaf. 
Native. Annual. Propagates ‘by seeds. 
Time of bloom: June to September. 
Seed-time: August to November. 
Ranges Nova Scotia to Minnesota, southward to Florida and 
exas. 
Habitat: Rich, moist soil; a common barnyard weed and a special 
nuisance in clover fields. 
The seeds of this weed, when an impurity in those of clover, 
are so nearly of the same size and weight that they are almost im- 
