EUPHORBIACEJE. 59X 



Tribe 1. PRosopiDocLiNiE. — Ovule 1. Seeds with an aril; exalbuminous ? Involucre 

 globose, bladder-like, opening on one side, deciduous, containing from 3 — 6 flowers, which 

 are dioecious and apetalous. 



Little is known respecting the plants of this group. 



Tribe 2. Euphorbia. — Ovule 1. Seeds albuminous. Flowers monoecious, apetalous, 

 sexes mixed in a cup-like involucre. 



Euphorbia. — Linn, 



Flowers in monoecious clusters, contained in an involucre, formed of a 5-cleft leaf, with 

 5 glands alternating with the divisions. Sterile flowers, monandrous, articulated with 

 their pedicel, surrounding the central fertile flower, which is naked and solitary. The 

 ovary is pedicellate, with 3 forked stigmas. Fruit hanging out of the involucre, formed 

 of 3 cocci, bursting elastically at the back, and each containing a single suspended seed. 



This very extensive genus contains so many species having active proper- 

 ties, that it would require a volume to notice them at any length. Their 

 general character is that of acridity, in some, to such a degree as to be poi- 

 sonous, whilst in others it is merely sufficient to render them emetic, cathartic, 

 &c. ; and in some again it is so diminished, that their juice is mild and nu- 

 tritious, as in the E. balsamifera, which is eaten in the Canary Islands'. (Nees 

 and Eberm.) The succulent, leafless, or nearly leafless species, are almost 

 all very active, and afford a resinous juice known as Euphorbium, and em- 

 ployed from a very early period as an emetic and purgative; it is noticed by 

 Dioscorides and Pliny, and appears to have been much in vogue at one time, 

 but is now seldom prescribed on account of its exceedingly irritating powers; 

 it is not known with certainty which species furnished it, but it has been 

 ascribed to the following. 



1. E. antiquorum, Linn. — Branches spreading, triangular 



or quadrangular ; angles sinuated and armed with double Fig. 259. 



spines at the protuberances. Peduncles single or in pairs ; 

 3-flowered. Stamens 5. 



Linn., Sp. PI. 648 ; Rheede, Hart. Malabar., ii. 

 t. 42 ; Lindley, Flor. Med. 192. 



A native of India, Arabia, &c. This species is 

 stated by Rheede to have a purgative bark, and many 

 authors are of opinion that it furnishes some of the 

 Euphorbium, but it is said by Hamilton ( Trans. Linn. 

 Soc. xiv.), and Royle (Mat. Med. 541), to be compa- 

 ratively inert. 



E. antiquorum. 



2. E. canariensts, Linn. — Shrubby, erect. Branches with 



from 3 — 4 angles, armed with double, hooked, dark, shining spines. Flowers somewhat 

 sessile, below a pair of spines, having an ovate, concave, green bract on each side. 



Linn., Sp. PI. 646 ; Willdenow, Sp. PI. ii. 882 ; Lindley, Fl. Med. 192. 



A native of the Canary Islands, and recognised by the Dublin Pharmaco- 

 poeia as the officinal species, and likewise stated by Martius to be the origin of 

 the gum-resin, but, as is observed by Pereira, this cannot be the case, as this 

 article does not come from these islands, but from Morocco. 



3. E. officinarum, Linn. — Stems short, tufted, naked, prickly, with many angles ; 

 spines in pairs, short, thick, and strong. 



Linn., Sp. PI. 649 ; De Candolle, PI. Grass. 647 ; Stephenson and 

 Churchill, iii. 142 ; Lindley, Fl. Med. 192. 



