MOXOECIA MOXANDRIA 5i7 



Spotted Ecphohbia. 



Root annual. Stem 6 to 12 inches long, much branched from the base, spreading 

 in every direction and lying close to the ground, hairy. Leaves 1 fourth to half 

 an inch long, and 1 eighth to 1 fourth of an inch wide, opposite, ovate-oblong, or 

 oval, mostly obtuse, denticulate, or obsoletely serrate, unequal at base, the upper 

 surface somewhat hairy and rough ish-dotted, sometimes stained with dark purple 

 spots, paler and more hairy beneath; petioi.s scarcely a line in length, hairy. 

 Heads of florets very small, axillary, on short lateral branches, crowded so as to 

 form axillary leafy clusters; petaloid segment* of the involucre very minute, 

 white, or often purple. Capsule very small, hairy. 



Hub. Cultivated grounds; Indian Corn fields : frequent, Ft. July— Sept. FY. Octo. 

 Obs. There seems to be some confusion between this and the E. thymifolia, of 

 American Botanists,— if the plants are really distinct. It appears also, by the 

 description, to be confounded with the preceding species,— from which it is very 

 distinct. The phrase "erecto-patula" could never be applied to this species; and 

 1 think the loaves of this are not so frequently spotted with purple, as they are in 

 E. hypericifolia.\ 



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Flowers subumbellate* 



3. E. Laththis, X. Leaves linear-lanceolate, rather acute, very 

 entire, smooth, sessile, quadrifarious ; umbel mostly 4-rayed, rays di- 

 chotomous. Becky Bot % p. 313. 



Vulgo— Mole-tree. Caper Spurge. Gallice — Epurge. 



Root biennial. Stem 2 to 3 feet high, erect, stout, terete, smooth. Leaves 2 to 

 4 or 5 inches Ion?, and 1 fourth to 3 fourths of an inch wide, opposite and decus- 

 sate, and consequently pointing in 4 directions, lance-oblong, or linear-lanceolate, 

 mucronate, smooth and subcoriaceous, sessile. Heads of florets bracteate ter- 

 minal, on dichotomous branches which are verticil late at the summit of the stem, 

 and with a single subsessile head in the centre or bosom of the verticil ; bracts 

 opposite, ovate, or lance-ovate, acute, mucronate ; glands of the involucre lunate, 

 2-horned, the horns dilated and obtuse. Capsule large, smooth. 

 Hab. Gardens, and cultivated lots: frequent. Ft. July— Sejit. Fr. Octo. 



Obs. This foreigner has become naturalized about many gardens ;— having 

 been introduced under a notion that it protected them from the incursions of 

 Moles. 



f f Leaves alternate: Jlotoers subumbellate. 



4. E. conoiLATA, L. Leaves oblong, obtuse, smooth ; umbel mostly 

 5-rayed, the rays di- and tri-chotomously subdivided ; petaloid segments 

 of the involucre obovate, conspicuous. Becky Bot.p. 313. 



CoROLLATE EUPHORBIA. 



Root perennial. Stem 1 to 2 or 3 feet high, slender, erect, terete, striate, smooth, 

 or sometimes slightly pilose near the insertions of the leaves. Leaves 1 to 2 or 2 

 and a half inches long, and 1 fourth of an inch to near an inch wide (the longer 

 ones often narrow), alternate on the stem, subverticillate at the base of the umbel 

 opposite on the rays, varying from ovate-oblong to linear and spatuiate-oblong.' 

 obtuse, sometimes retuse, smooth, very entire, with a narrow, subcarti lag! nous, 

 and often somewhat revolute, margin; petioles scarcely a line in length. Beads 

 of florets terminal [diolcous, Nuit.] on a verticil of 5 branches which ar« 2 or 3 



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