246 EUPHORBIACEAE. 



3. EUPHORBIA L. Spurge. 



Ours herbs, [nvolucres solitary in the forks or in terminal umbels, with 



i or 5 teeth alternating with as many glands; glands either naked or appen- 



daged (i. e., with a colored margin). Blowers monoecious, both pistillate and 



staminate naked and included in an involucre which itself resembles a flower 



hut really encloses a cluster of llowers consisting of several staminate and 1 

 pistillate flower. Staminate flower very much reduced, consisting of a single 

 stamen; filament jointed on a short pedicel like it, the pedicel often with a 

 minute scale or bract at base, showing that the stamen is a distinct flower. 

 Pistillate (lower supported on a pedicel in the center of the involucre and soon 

 protruded from it, consisting of a 3-celled ovary and 3 bifid styles. Capsule 

 with .". cells, each 1 seeded. ( Euphorbus, King Juba's physician.) 



Stem-, prostrate; leaves small, all opposite and more <>r less unequal at base, stipulate; 

 glands of tlu- involucre with a petaldike white or reddish appendage. 

 Herbage glabrous; stems and leaves infrequently reddish. 



Leaves obovate or oblong, minutely serrulate at apex 1. E. serpyllifolia. 



Leaves deltoid to ovate-oblong, entire 4. E. occllata. 



Herbage often hairy or puberulent; leaves commonly margined with a red or with a 

 central red spot. 



Stipules lanceolate, fimbriate 2. E. matulata. 



Stipules triangular, slightly lacerate 3. E. hypericifolia. 



Stems erect; leaves larger, stipules none; no colored margins to the glands. 

 Stem-leaves alternate. 



(Hands diskdike, entire; capsule with warty lobes 5. E. dictyosperma. 



Glands crescent-shaped, 2-horned; capsule smooth 6. E. leptocera. 



Stemdeaves in 4 ranks; glands crescent-shaped 7. E. lathyris. 



1. E. serpyllifolia Pers. Thyme-leaved Spurge. Stems terete, or more 

 or less angled, repeatedly branched, forming prostrate mats 1 to 3 ft. across; 

 herbage glabrous and green; leaves oblong or obovate-spatulate, unequal at 

 base, more or less minutely serrate toward the apex; stipules setaceous or lacer- 

 ate; involucre 1 1 > line long or less; glands transversely oblong and more or less 

 cupped in the center; appendages narrow, crenately serrate or nearly entire; 

 Beeds sharply quadrangular, slightly rugose or more manifestly so and thus 

 appearing shallow-pitted. 



Stream beds and law grounds: Coast Ranges, Sacramento Valley and south- 

 ward. Aug. -Oct. Var. consanguinea Boiss. Herbage with more or less 

 red coloration; stems more erect; apex of leaves sharply serrate; lobes of the 

 involucre lacerate; seeds less sharply angled. — Upper Sacramento Valley; 

 Napa Valley. Var. rugulosa Engelm. Plants more thickly matted; leaves 



i <• serrate on the larger side of the unequal leaf; seeds finely rugulose. — 



Suisun; Berkeley. Var. occidentalis Jepson. Herbage dull yellowish green; 

 appendages of tin- involucre crenately lobed; seeds sinuate-rugose. — Humboldt 



Co. and Mt. St. Helena. 



2. E. maculata L. Spotted Spurge. Stems radiately branching, pros- 

 trate; herbage hairy or puberulent; leaves oblong-linear, usually with a red 

 blotch in center, serrulate, subcordate at base; stipules fimbriate; involucre with 

 1 cup-shaped glands; capsule acutely angled; seeds transversely wrinkled and 

 minutely pitted. 



Occurring as an immigrant from the eastern United States ace. to Greene. 



?>. E. hypericifolia L. LARGE SPURGE. Glabrous or sparingly hairy, 

 ascending or sometimes prostrate, the branches % to l 1 -.. ft. long; leaves ovate- 

 oblong to oblong-linear, '■'< nerved, unequally senate, commonly with a red spot 



Or r.d margins; stipules triangular, slightly lacerate; peduncles longer than the 

 petioles; appendages of the involucre white or rod. entire; capsule glabrous, 



obtusely angled; seeds with broken transverse ridges. 



