Descriptive Flora 



123 



below the staminate, at the base of the spike, and have 5 sepals. 

 Capsules deeply 3-lobed, depressed, covered with hairs and */4 to 

 1/2 m diameter. 



Stillingia linear if olm (Muell. Arg.) Small Queen's Delight. 



Queen's Root. 



Leafy plants with milky sap and many erect, simple stems 

 growing from a common root, later forking above into 3 to 5 

 short leafy branches. Leaf-blades narrowly linear, 1 to 3 inches 

 long, the margins having small, black-tipped teeth. Flowers in- 

 conspicuous but odd, yellowish-green, in terminal spikes, 1 to 2y 2 

 inches long. Staminate flowers on upper part of spike. Stamens 

 2 or 3. Pistillate flower near the base of the spike. Petals none. 

 Pods small, 3-lobed, 3-seeded. April to late summer. On dry, 

 rocky hillsides. 



Stillingia sylvatioa L. Queen's Delight. Queen *s Root. 



Similar to Stillingia linmrifolia but leaf -blades are broader, 

 oblong to elliptic, and seed pods are about twice as big (about y<£ 

 across and slightly longer) . The roots of this species are large, 

 woody and thick, and used as medicine in the treatment of skin 

 diseases and as an emetic. 



Stillingia dentata (Torr.) Britt. & Rusby. 



Unattractive, smooth, leafy plants, 4 to 12 inches high, and 

 easily recognized as a Spurge by the small, strongly 3-lobed pods 

 each crowned by a three-divided stigma, and the usual incon- 

 spicuous slender spikes of flowers. Leaves simple, alternate. 

 Blades oblong or wedgeshaped, y 2 to 1" long, almost sessile, 

 sharply toothed, with flaring or rarely incurved teeth. May and 

 June. In dry soil. Not common. 



Jatropha texana Muell, Arg. Bull Nettle. Tread Softly. 

 (Cnidosculus texanus [Muell, Arg.] Small) 



The best-protected plant in this county outside of the Cactus. 

 Stout-stemmed plants with long, white, bristly stinging hairs and 

 large clusters of fragrant, white flowers. Leaf-blades large, 



