CXVII. EUPHORBIACEJl. U48 



33. ACALYPHA, Linn. 

 (From a, privative ; kalos, pleasant ; and ajJu', touch.) 

 Flowers monoecious or rarely dioecious. Male flowers : clustered in axillary 

 spikes, with a small bract under each cluster. Perianth of 4 valvate segments. 

 No petals or glands. Stamens 8 or rarely 8 to IG, inserted on a raised central 

 receptacle, without any rudimentary ovary ; filaments free; anther-cells distinct, 

 linear, wavy or tortuous, attached by one end. Female flower : 1 to 4 together 

 within a leafy bract, the bracts solitary or spioate. Perianth of 8, rarely 

 4 imbricate segments. Ovary 3-celled, with 1 ovule in each cell. Styles 

 distinct, finely branched.— Shrubs or trees or in species not Australian herbs. 

 Leaves alternate, usually dentate. Flowers very small, the males and females 

 in separate spikes or the females solitary in separate axils, or one or more at or 

 near the base of the male spikes. 



A large genus dispersed over the trcftioal and subtropical regions of both the New and the 

 Old World. . 

 A weak pube=oent shrub, branches angular. Leaves ovate, under 2in. long. 



Spikes terminated by a few male flowers, females crowded towardsthe base 1. A. iiuUca, 



var. australis. 

 Villous shrub. Leaves 1 to 3in. long, ovale or broadly lanceolate. 



Female flowering bracts 1 or more at the base of the male spikes or in 



separate axils 2. A. iiemonim. 



Glabrous or pubescent slender shrubs or trees. Leaves small, oblong. 

 Female flowering bracts sessile at the base of the males or in separate axils, 

 or if pedicellate with abnormal deeply devided muricate fruits. Male 



clusters approximate 3. A. eremorum. 



Female flowering bracts on filiform peduncles with normal capsules. Male 



clusters distant in filiform spikes i. A. capillipes. 



1. A. indica (Indian), Lwi?i.; rnr. australis (Australian). A weak herbaceous 

 pubescent shrub, branches angular. Leaves ovate, sometimes acuminate, under 

 2in. long on the specimen examined, base very slightly cuneate or almost 

 truncate, margins crenate- serrate ; petioles slender, longer than the blade. 

 Spikes axillary sessile, | to IJin. long, terminated by a few minute male flowers, 

 female flowers rather crowded at the base ; bracts broadly cuneiform, toothed. 

 Capsules concealed by the bract, 3-seeded, slightly hispid. Seed ovoid, nearly 

 smooth. 



Hab.: Walsh Eiver, T. Barclay -Millar. 



2. A. nemorutn (found in groves), F. v. M. ,■ IfuM. Arg. in Linnaa 

 xxxiv. 88, and in DC. Prod. xv. ii. 858; Benth. Ft. Austi: vi. 132.' A shrub of 

 from 3 to 4ft. to twice that height, the young shoots more or less softly villous, 

 the adult foliage sparingly so. Leaves ovate-lanceolate or oblong, obtuse or 

 scarcely acuminate, crenate, 3 or 5-nerved at the base, penniveined with transverse 

 veinlets, those of the principal branches 2 to Sin. long, on petioles from under 

 ■J-in. to lin. long, those of the lateral branches smaller, on short petioles. Male 

 spikes slender, pedunculate, 1 to 2in. long, the flowers in clusters of 10 to 15 or 

 more, on exceedingly short petioles, with a minute deeply fringed bract under 

 each cluster. Perianth-segments 4, about J line long. Stamens usually 8, not 

 longer than the perianth. Female flowers 1 to 3 at the base of some of the male 

 spikes or in separate axils, and sometimes several crowded in a short spike, each 

 within an orbicular crenate bract, attaining sometimes -^in. diameter. Perianth- 

 segments 3 or 4, very small. Ovary hirsute. Styles long, fringed with capillary 

 lobes. — A. Cimninghamii, Muell. Arg. in Linnfea xxxiv. 35, and in DC. Prod. xv. 

 ii. 861. 



Hab.: Brisbane Eiver, Moreton Bay, A. Cunniiir/ham, Leichhardt, F. v. Miiller, C. Stuart; 

 Burnett River, F. v. Mueller ; Wide Bay, Bidwill. 



The species is exceedingly variable in the indumentum, sometimes very dense and soft, 

 sometimes scarcely any, in the breadth of the leaves and length of the petiole, in the female 

 bracts few or many, crowded and clustered, or distant in a short interrupted spike, the teeth of 

 the bracts also variable in number and breadth. — Benth. 



