Euphorbia .] 
EUPHORBIACEJB. 
303 
valves with an acute keel on the back ciliated with strong bristles. 
Seeds grey, acutely tetragonous, deeply sulcate. 
Mauritius, a frequent weed, Dr. Ayres ! etc. Tropical Africa and America. 
3. E. thymifolia, Burnt . ; Boiss. in DC. Prod. xv. 2, 47. An 
annual herb, with very slender much-branched trailing pilose densely 
tufted stems 1 foot long. Leaves opposite, oblong, obtuse, in. 
long, on very short petioles, distinctly toothed, cuneate-truncate 
on the upper side, cordate on the lower side at the base ; stipules 
lanceolate, fimbriated. Heads few together in the axils of small 
densely congested leaves on short shoots. Involucre campanulate, 
pilose, deeply lobed ; glands minute, stalked, roundish, with a 2-3- 
lobed appendage. Capsule -^-g- in. long and broad, brown, perma- 
nently erect, pilose, obtusely keeled. Seeds reddish, rough. E. 
Burmanniana, J. Gay in Webb , Pliyt . Can. iii. 239. 
Mauritius, and Rodriguez, a common weed. Cosmopolitan in the tropics. 
4. E. pilulifera, Linn. ; Boiss. in DC. Prod. xv. 2, 21. An annual 
weed, with tufted branched erect stems \-l foot long, densely 
clothed in the upper part with spreading brown hairs. Leaves mem- 
branous, oblong-rhomboid, 1-1 \ in. long, obtuse or subacute, dis- 
tinctly toothed, very oblique, rounded on the lower side at the base 
and cuneate on the upper ; stipules minute, linear, fimbriated ; petiole 
very short. Heads in congested leafless cymes, in. thick, on 
short axillary peduncles. Involucre turbinate ; lobes deltoid ; glands 
round, with a minute or very narrow appendage. Capsule in. 
long, pilose. Seeds reddish-brown, rough. 
Mauritius, Seychelles and Rodriguez, a common weed. Cosmopolitan in 
the tropics. 
5. E. hypericifolia, Linn. ; var. E. indica, Lam. ; Boiss. in DC. 
Prod. xv. 2, 22. An annual weed, with erect densely tufted stems 
1-1 1 foot long, slightly pubescent towards the top. Leaves distinctly 
petioled, oblong, obtuse or minutely cuspidate, glabrous, glaucous, 
triplinerved, f-1 in. long, rounded on the lower, cuneate on the upper 
side at the base. Heads in dense axillary cymes on short peduncles, 
sometimes subtended by a pair of small leaves. Involucre cam- 
panulate ; lobes deltoid ; glands ovate with a broad appendage. 
Capsule pubescent, nearly T x ¥ in. broad ; valves keeled on the back. 
Seeds pitted, dull brown. E. hyperieifolia, Bojer , Sort. Maur. 288. 
E.cassioides, Presl. 
Mauritius, a frequent weed, regarded by Bojer as an introduction. Spread 
through the warmer regions of the Old World ; and the type in America. E. parviflora, 
Linn., given by Bojer as an introduced Mauritian plant, scarcely differs from this 
except by its smooth seeds. 
6. E. pyrifolia, Lam.; Boiss. in DC. Prod, xv., 77. A shrub, 
10-15 feet high, with dichotomously forked or whorled branches and 
