338 



OHIO EXPERIMENT STATION: BULLETIN 175. 



191 Three=seeded Mercury, Waxball (A) Acalypha Vnginica L. Is a 

 leafy plant one to two feet high with long stalked, egg-shaped, bluntly toothed 

 leaves. The seeds are borne in the axils (angles) of the leaves inclosed by 

 fruiting leaves (bracts) with 5 to 9 lobes or points. Very common about build- 

 ings and in enriched waste ground, also in clover seed in which its seeds are a 

 frequent impurity. 



Seeds straw color to gray, ovoid, 1-16 inch long with wavy lines extending 

 lengthwise, easily crushed between the ringers, hence the name waxball. Very 

 common in clover seed from which they can not well be separated in cleaning. 

 The time to remove such seeds is before the clover is cut. Controlled \>y de- 

 duction of the seeds. 



192 Flowering Spurge (P) Euphorbia corollata L. Flowering spurge, Fig. 



34, is common in dry soils. It grows two or 

 three feet high and exudes a millry, acrid- 

 poisonous juice when the stems are cut or bro- 

 ken. The favorite habitat is in land of low 

 fertility where it is avoided by stock. 



Seeds ash color, thick, 1-12 inch long slight- 

 ly uneven. This plant has rootstocks under- 

 ground and requires repeated cutting for its 

 destruction. 



193 Spurge (A) Euphorbia nutans Lag. It 

 is an erect, branching herb, with reddish-green 

 stems and small leaves tinged with red on the 

 margins and with a red spot near the base. It 

 has small white or reddish flowers and the 

 abundant milky juice of the preceding; it is 

 common in dry soils along pathways and road- 

 sides. It has been accredited with causing slabbering in cattle. Seeds dark, 

 slightly four angled, transversely grooved, 1-24 inch long. Found in clover seeds 

 and in seeds of grasses; also in hay. Destroyed by early pulling or hoe cutting 

 and by cultivation. 



194 Spotted Spurge (A) Euphorbia maculata L. Spotted spurge is a prostrate, 

 spreading, commonly hairy, small plant with browish-red spots on the leaves. 

 This one grows frequently in the interstices of unused walks and by road- 

 sides. It has the milky juice of the family and the same objections hold against 

 it as against the others. Seeds ash-gray, 1-30 inch long, ovate in outline, 

 sharply four-angled with four shallow grooves across each side. Frequent in 

 seeds of grasses and clover. Destroyed like the preceding. 



195 Cypress Spurge (P) * Euphorbia Cyparissias L. Cypress spurge is 

 another of the same tribe, once thought by some to be worthy of cultivation. It 

 is capable of proving equally as bad as toad-flax, live-forever, and other "flow- 

 er-weeds." It is shown in Fig. 35, that it may be recognized. The stems are 

 in dense clusters, six to ten inches high with numerous narrow leaves, giving 

 the plant a graceful appearance. It has been so much planted in country 

 cemeteries that it might with propriety be called "graveyard weed." The 

 rootstocks propagate the plant in a widening circle each year, so that no other 

 ilowers are able to resist its encroachments. Cemetery trustees should prohibit 

 ts planting in these places and require its destruction where it is grown in 

 i»em. It apparently spreads by the root. 



The seeds are as shown in Fig. 35, a b c; these figures are copied from Nobbe. 



Fig. 34. Flowering Spurge. 



[After Millspaugh .) 



