Euphorbia.] LXVIII. EUPHORBIACEjE. 395 



12. E. amygdaloides, Linn. (fig. 890). Wood S. — Stock perennial 

 and almost woody, with several erect, often reddish stems, 1 to 2 feet 

 high, glabrous or slightly hairy. Stem-leaves rather crowded towards 

 the middle of the stem, lanceolate or narrow- oblong; the upper ones 

 more distant, and shorter. Umbel of 5 long rays, not much divided, 

 with a few axillary peduncles below it. Floral leaves of each pair 

 always connected into one large orbicular one, of a pale yellowish-green. 

 Glands of the involucre crescent-shaped, with rather long points. 

 Capsules and seeds smooth. 



In woods and thickets, in temperate and southern Europe and 

 western Asia, but not extending into Scandinavia. In Britain, common 

 over the greater part of England, rare in northern England, in Ireland 

 only near Ban don and Donegal ; unknown in Scotland. Fl. spring. 



II. MERCURIALIS. MERCURY. 



Erect herbs, with opposite leaves, and small green flowers in little 

 clusters, either sessile, stalked, or spiked in the axils of the leaves, 

 the males and females distinct, on the same or on separate plants. 

 Perianth of 3 segments. Male flowers with 9 to 12 stamens. Females 

 with a sessile 2- celled ovary, crowned by 2 simple styles, and surrounded 

 by 2 or 3 small filaments. Capsule 2-celled, otherwise like that of 

 Spurge, 



A small genus, spread over the temperate regions of the southern as 

 well as the northern hemisphere, and nearly connected with several 

 more tropical genera of weed-like, uninteresting plants. 

 Rootstock perennial. Stems simple. Flowers all in loose spikes . 1. M. perennis. 

 Root annual. Stems branched. Female flowers sessile or shortly 



stalked 2. M. annua. 



1. M. perennis, Linn. (fig. 897). Dog's Mercury. — Rootstock slender 

 and creeping. Stems erect, simple, 6 or 8 inches, or rarely nearly a 

 foot high. Leaves rather crowded in the upper half, oblong or ovate- 

 lanceolate, 2 to 4 or 5 inches long, usually pointed, crenate or serrated, 

 and rough or shortly hairy. Flowers dioecious, on slender axillary 

 peduncles, often nearly as long as the leaves ; the males in little 

 clusters, the females singly or 2 together. Ovaries larger than the 

 perianth, with rather long, spreading styles. Capsules more or less 

 covered with warts or soft prickles. 



In woods and shady places, throughout Europe and Russian Asia, 

 except the extreme north. Abundant in England and Scotland, less 

 so in Ireland. FL early spring, commencing before its leaves are fully out. 



2. M. annua, Linn. (fig. 898). Annual M.— An erect, glabrous 

 annual, 6 inches to a foot high, with opposite branches. Leaves stalked, 

 ovate or oblong, rather coarsely toothed, of a thin texture. Male 

 flowers clustered, as in M. perennis, along slender peduncles nearly as 

 long as the leaves. Females 2 or 3 together, either sessile or shortly 

 stalked, in the axils of the leaves, usually on separate plants from the 

 males. 



In cultivated and waste places ; very common in central and southern 

 Europe and eastward to the Caucasus, more rare towards the north, and 

 only as an introduced weed of cultivation in Scandinavia. Not generally 

 common in England or Ireland, very local and doubtfully indigenous in 



