288 



WEEDS A^s^D USEFUL PLANTS. 



severally split elasticallj into 2 valves. Seeds 1 in each carpel. Poly- 

 morphous herbs, with an acrid milky juice ; peduncles lateral or terminal, 

 often in umbellate clusters. 



§ 1. Leaves opposite, small, serrate, often hairy and falcate, furnished with 

 awl-shaped or scaly stipules ; stems much branched,- involucres in the forks 

 or axils ; seeds transversely wrinkled-pitted ; annuals. 



1. E. macula'ta, L. Prostrate ; peduncles equalling the petioles, 

 crowded in lateral clusters ; pod acutely angled, puberulent ; seeds ash- 

 colored, sharply 4-angled. 



Spotted Euphorbia. Milk Purslane. Spotted Spurge. 



(Sf^em 6-12 inches long, much branched from the base and lying close to the ground. 

 Leaves >^ an inch long, ver\^ oblique at the base and serrulale towards the apex, often 

 with a dark purple spot above ; petiolts scarcely a line in length. Involucre small, its 

 minute glands with a petal-like, white or purplish, somewhat creuate margin. 



Gravelly places and cultivated grounds. July - October. 



Obs. Yery common everywhere, especially in Indian corn-fields, where 

 it lies close to the ground, branching from the root in every direction, 

 and forming a close mat. 



2. E. hypericifo'lia, L. Ascending or erect ; peduncles longer than 

 the petioles, collected in loose, leafy cymes ; pod obtusely angled, smooth ; 

 seeds blackish, obtusely angled. 



Hypericum-leaved Euphorbia. Black Purslane. Large Spotted 

 Spurge. Eye-bright. 



stem 9-18 inches high , rather slender and leaning as if top-heavy, with somewhat dichot- 

 omous spreading branches above, smoothish, often purple. Leaves half an inch to near 

 an inch and a half long, obliquely ovate-oblong or sub-falcate, rather obtuse, sharply 

 serrate, nearly entire towards the base on the rounded or convex side, more or less 

 pilose with longish fine hairs, often stained with purple blotches along the midrib ; petioles 

 scarcely a line in length. Clusters of flowers axillarj" and dichotomal, pedicellate, forming 

 small corymbs at the ends of the branches ; appendages of the involucre minute, white, 

 or purple edged with white, entire. 



Sandy fields; pastures, road-sides, &c.: throughout the United States. Fl. July- 

 September. Fr. September - October. 



Obs. This species is very common in dry pasture fields — especially in 

 thinnish sandy soils, — and has been suspected of being the cause of saliva- 

 tion, or slabbering, with which horses are often affected, in the latter 

 part of summer. I cannot say how much foundation there may be for 

 the suspicion ; but I have often observed that horses are not apt to eat 

 much of any acrid or unpalatable plant, — and are, moreover, very expert 

 in selecting esculent herbs from among those which are not so. This 

 plant is a worthless, obnoxious little weed, — and I believe is best kept 

 down by improving the soil, and choking it out by more valuable sub- 

 stitutes. 



Besides the species above noticed there are several others, both native 

 and naturalized, to be found in various parts of the country, but they do 

 not come within the scope of this work. E. Ipecacuan'hSB, L., is a 

 perennial species with a large root which possesses powerfully emetic 



