EUP 
plants produce flowers here. This grows naturally in 
India,. 
The fourth fort puts out many ftalks juft above the 
furface of the ground, which are thick, fucculent, 
and roundifh, having eight or ten angles while they 
are young, but as they grow old they lofe their angles 
and become round •, the branches grow diftorted and 
irregular, firft horizontal, and afterward turn upward; 
they are armed with fmall crooked fpines on their 
angles, and on the upper part of the branches come 
out the flowers, -which are flu all, and of a greenilh 
white, fhaped like thofe of the fecond fort. This grows 
naturally in India. 
The fifth fort grows naturally in India ; this rifes with 
a ftrong upright ftalk five or fix feet high, which 
hath irregular angles, and protuberances which are 
oblique to the angles ; the lower part of the ftalk is 
naked, the upper part is branching, and the branches 
are armed with crooked’ fpines ; at every protube- 
rance, and at the top, they are garnifhed with oblong 
leaves of a lucid green, which are very fmooth, en- 
tire, and rounded at their ends ; thefe fall off, and 
the plants remain naked for fome months, and then 
the flowers come out, which fit dole to the branches, 
and are of a ereenifn white colour ; the leaves come 
out in the autumn, and fall off in the fpring. 
The fixth fort rifes with a roundifh, upright, fuccu- 
lent ftalk about three feet high, putting out feveral 
branches on the fide of the fame form ; thefe have 
feven angles or furrows, which are armed with long. 
Angle,, black thorns ; at the end of which come out 
fmall flowers, of the fame form with thofe of the 
other forts, and are fometimes fucceeded by fmall 
fruit. 
The feventh fort hath thick, roundifh, fucculent 
ftalks, which are fcaly ; thefe fend out many branches 
from their Tides of the fame form, which are twifted, 
and run one over another, fo as to appear like a par- 
cel of ferpents coming out from the ftalks, from 
whence it had the appellation of Medufa’s Head. 
The ends of the branches are garnifhed with narrow, 
thick, fucculent leaves, which drop off, and round 
the upper part of the branches the flowers come out ; 
thefe are white, and of the fame form with thofe of 
the other fpecies, but larger, and are frequently fuc- 
ceeded by round fmooth capfules with three cells, 
each including a Angle roundifh feed. 
The eighth fort hath roundifh ftalks, which fwell out 
like a belly in the middle, and have knobbed angles, 
between which come out long fpines which are ftrait ; 
thefe ftalks rife two feet high, and put out a few 
branches on their fide of the fame form ; the flowers 
are produced at the end of the branches, fitting 
clofe upon the angles ; they are fmall, of a yellowifh 
green colour, and fhaped like thofe of the other 
fpecies. 
The ninth fort hath ftalks and branches very like 
thofe of the fourth, but much flenderer ■, the fpines 
of this are Angle, and thofe of the other double ; and 
the ends of the branches are clofely garnifhed with 
flowers on every angle, in which it differs from the 
fourth fort. 
The tenth fort hath a thick fhort ftalk, which feldom 
rifes more than eight or ten inches high, from which 
come out a great number of trailing branches which 
are flender, and grow about a foot in length ; thefe 
intermix with each other like thofe of the feventh 
fort, but they are much fmaller, and do not grow 
near fo long, but have the fame appearance, from 
whence it is called Little Medufa’s Head : the ends 
of thefe branches are befet with narrow leaves, be- 
tween which the flowers come out, which are white, 
and fhaped like thofe of the other fpecies. 
The eleventh fort rifes with a taper ftalk fix or feven 
inches high, fending out from the top a few taper 
branches, which fpread out on every fide ; thefe are 
not fcaly, like thofe of the laft fort, but taper, and 
garnifhed at their ends with feveral fmall narrow 
leaves which drop off. This fort hath not yet flowered 
here, having been but a fhort time in England. 
EUP 
The twelfth fort hath a fhort thick ftalk, which never 
rifes three inches high, fo that the branches fpread 
on the furface of the ground •, thefe feldom grow 
more than fix inches long, and their fcales fwell into 
a fort of protuberances which are fquare ; they have 
no leaves, and very rarely produce flowers in England, 
but has been long an inhabitant in the gardens. 
The thirteenth fort is very like the feventh, but the 
ftalks never rife more than a foot or fifteen inches 
high, fo that the branches fpread out near the ground ; 
thefe are alfo much fhorter than thofe of the feventh, . .. 
but have the fame appearance, and are garniflied with 
narrow leaves at their end, which fall off as the 
branches are extended in length : this produces a great 
number of fmall white flowers at the end of the 
branches, which are fhaped like thofe of the other 
fpecies, and are frequently fucceeded by round fmooth 
capfules with three cells, including one or two 
roundifh feeds which ripen here. 
Thefe forts have been by rnoft of the modern bota- 
nifts ranged under the title of Euphorbium, and have 
been diftinguifhed from the Tithymali, more from 
the ftru&ure and outward appearance of the plants, 
than any real difference in their characters, as hath 
been before obferved ; but as the number of fpecies 
of thofe commonly called Spurge was very great, fo 
many of the writers were willing to feparate the Eu- 
phorbia from that genus, to leffen the number of 
fpecies. 
Thefe plants are preferved in many curious gardens, 
more for the oddnefs of their ftructure, than any 
real beauty ; but being fo extremely different in their 
form, from almoft any plants of European production, 
many curious perfons have been induced to preferve 
the feveral forts in their gardens. 
They are all of them full of a milky acrid juice, which 
flows out on their being wounded in any part ; this 
juice will blifter the flefh, if it happen to lie upon 
any tender part for a fhort time, and will burn li- 
nen almoft as bad as aqua fortis, therefore the plants 
fhould be handled with great caution ; nor fhould the 
ends of their branches be ever bruited or injured ; for 
if they are, it frequently occafions their rotting down 
to the next joint, and fometimes will deffroy the whole 
plant, if thofe injured branches are not cut off in time ; 
fo that whenever the branches appear to have been in- 
jured, the fooner they are cut from the plants, the 
lefs danger there will be of their fuffering from it; nor 
fhould any of the branches be cut between the joints, 
for the fame reafon. 
Moft of thefe plants were firft brought to Europe by 
the Dutch, who have been very curious to introduce 
great numbers of plants from India, and alfo from 
the Cape of Good Hope : from the latter there hath 
been a very great variety of curious plants of late 
years brought to Europe, many of which produce 
very elegant flowers, and are the greateft ornaments of 
the confervatory in the winter and fpring feafons. 
Thefe have been brought over in feeds, but the dif- 
ferent kinds of Euphorbia came over moft of them 
in plants or cuttings ; for thefe may be eafily tranf- 
ported to any diftance, if either of them are put up 
in boxes, with any foft dry package, to prevent their 
being bruifed, or their fpines from wounding each 
other, and kept from moifture and cold ; with this 
care they may be kept fix months out of the ground, 
and if carefully planted will take root, and thrive as 
well as if they had been newly taken from the old 
plants, or out of the ground but a fhort time ; which 
is a much more expeditious method of obtaining the 
plants than from feeds, when they can be procured. 
The greateft part of thefe fucculent plants grow na- 
turally upon barren rocky places, or in dry fandy 
foils, where few other plants will thrive ; therefore 
they fhould never be planted in rich or loamy earth 
here, nor buffered to receive much wet, which will 
caufe them to rot. The belt mixture of earth for 
thefe plants is about a fourth part of fcreened lirne- 
rubbifh, a fourth part of fea-fand, and half of light 
frefh earth from a common ; thefe fhould be mixed 
well 
