APETALOUS EXOGENOUS PLANTS. 487 



RICINUS, Tourn. Castor-oil Plant. 



Flotoers monoecious, apetalons, in a dense oblong pani- 

 cle, the upper ones fertile ; cah/x 3-5-parted ; corolla none ; 

 stamens numerous, the filaments much branched ; aiither- 

 cells distinct, pendulous; sti/Ies 3, 2-parted ; capsule spiny 

 or bristly, of 3 oblong 1 -celled, 1 -seeded, 2-valved carpels. 

 — HerbSf or (tropical) shrubs or trees, with petioled peltate 

 lobed leaves ; ^xmicles lateral and terminal. 



E. COMMUNIS, L. Stem large, glaucous ; leaves orbicu- 

 lar in outline, palmately 7-9-lobed, the lobes oblong or 

 ovate, acuminate, unequally serrate, smooth; ;;e^i0^es glan- 

 dular; panicles in the forks of the stem, and opposite the 

 leaves, dense, glaucous; capsules oblong, spiny. Waste 

 places. June-October. Stem 3°-10°high; leaves 1° in 

 diameter ; stipules large, deciduous ; j!?<^;u'c/e 6-12' long. 

 Annual. 



PHYLLANTHUS, Swartz. 



Flo2vers monoecious, apetalous, axillary ; calyx 5-6-part- 

 ed ; stamens 3, monadelphous ; glands 5-6; omr^ 3-celled, 

 with two ovules in each cell; stjjles 3, 2-cleft ; capsule 

 globose, of three 1-celled, 2-seeded, 2-valved carpels. — 

 Smooth herbs, with 2-ranked leaves and branches ; flowers 

 small, greenish. 



P. Carolinensis, "Walt. Annual; branches erect- 

 spreading; leaves oblong, oval, or obovate, entire, sbort- 

 petioled ; flojvers mostly by pairs, one sterile, the other 

 fertile, on short nodding pedicels; calj/x 6-parted, the lobes 

 oblong, obtuse, strongly 1-nerved, membranous on the mar- 

 gins ; capsule smooth ; seed semicircular, 3-angled, striped 

 with lines of minute raised points. Low ground. August- 

 September. Stem 8-16' high ; leaves ^-'-l' long. 



PACHYSANDRA, Michx. 

 Flowers monoecious, apetalous, spiked; crtZ?/.^ bract-like, 



