E UPHORBIA CEAE. 585 



1 mm. long; wings oblong-ovate, slightly concave; crest of the corolla short; seeds 

 silky, about twice the length of the caruncle-lobes. Plains, S. Dak. to Mex. and 

 Arizona. May-July. 



15. Poly gala polygama Walt. Racemed Milkwort. (I. F. f. 2287.) 

 Stems simple, 1-5 dm. high, from a deep biennial root. Stem-leaves crowded, 

 oblong or oblanceolate, obtuse, mucronulate, 1.6-2.5 cm « l° n &> 2_ 4 m m. wide, en- 

 tire, the lower smaller; basal leaves spatulate; raceme 2.5-10 cm. long; pedicels 

 2-4 mm. long; flowers rarely white, showy, 4-6 mm. long; wings broadly obovate; 

 crest of the corolla large, laciniate; stamens 8; subterranean branches horizontal, 

 bearing numerous, cleistogamous flowers; seeds hairy, longer than the caruncle- 

 lobes. In dry soil, N. S. to Manitoba, to Fla. and Tex. June-July. 



16. Polygala paucifolia Willd. Fringed Milkwort. Flowering Win- 

 TERGREEN. GAY-WINGS. (I. F. f. 2288.) Glabrous, perennial by slender pros- 

 trate stems. Flowering branches 1-2 dm. high; leaves of the summits of the stems 

 clustered, ovate or oblong, 2-4 cm. long, acute, rough-margined, with petioles 4-8 

 mm. long; those of the lower part of the shoots successively smaller, distant, the 

 lowest scale-like; flowers 1-4, axillary to the upper leaves, 1.4-2 cm. long, slender- 

 peduncled, rose-purple or rarely white, showy; wings obovate; crest of the corolla 

 beautifully fimbriate; seed slightly shorter than the caruncle; cleistogamous sub- 

 terranean flowers few, on short lateral branches. In moist rich woods, N. B. and 

 Anticosti to Saskatch., Ga. and 111. May-July. 



Family 8. EUPHORBIACEAE J. St. Hil.* 



Spurge Family. 



Monoecious or dioecious herbs, shrubs or trees, with acrid often milky 

 sap. Leaves opposite, alternate or verticillate. Flow r ers sometimes much 

 reduced and subtended by an involucre which resembles a calyx {Euphor- 

 bia), the number of parts in the floral whorls often different in the stam- 

 inate and pistillate flowers. Ovary usually 3-celled; ovules 1 or 2 in each 

 cavity, pendulous; styles mostly 3, simple, divided, or many-cleft. Fruit 

 a mostly 3-lobed capsule, separating, often elastically, into 3 2-valved 

 carpels from a persistent axis. Seeds anatropous ; embryo in fleshy or 

 oily endosperm, the broad cotyledons almost filling the seed-coats. 

 About 210 genera and 4000 species, of wide distribution. 



Flowers not in an involucre, with a true calyx. 

 Ovules 2 in each cavity of the ovary. 



Petals wanting ; stamens usually 3. 1. Phyllanthus. 



Petals present, at least in staminate flowers; stamens 5 or 6. 2. Andrachne. 

 Ovule 1 in each cavity of the ovary. 



Plants clothed with stellate pubescence, or scales. 



Ovary, and dehiscent capsule 2-4-celled, mostly 3-celled. 3. Croton, 

 Ovary, and capsule i-celled, achene-like. 4. Crotonopsis. 



Plants variously pubescent, with simple hairs, these sometimes gland-tipped. 

 Inflorescence spicate, racemose or of axillary clusters. 



Flowers with petals. 5. Ditaxis. 



Flowers without petals. 



Styles many-cleft. 6. Acalypha. 



Styles simple, somewhat united at the base. 7. Tragia. 



Inflorescence cymose. 9. Jatropha. 



Plants glabrous or nearly so. 



Inflorescence racemose, somewhat panicled ; pistillate flowers above the 



staminate. 8. Ricinus. 



Inflorescence spicate; pistillate flowers below the staminate. 10. Stillttigia. 

 Flowers in an involucre, the calyx represented by a minute scale at the base of the fila- 

 ment-like pedicel. ir. Euphorbia. 

 1. PHYLLANTHUS L. 

 Annual or biennial herbs (some tropical species shrubs or trees). Leaves alter- 

 nate, entire, often so arranged as to appear like the leaflets of a compound leaf. 

 Flowers monoecious, apetalous, a staminate and a pistillate one together in the axils. 



* Contributed by Dr. John K. Small. 



