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mercury (Mercurialis) (fig. 2), which are herba- ceous plants, but the greater number are woody plants and often trees. The large genus Euphorbia shows See also:

GREAT

great variety in See also:

HABIT (through the French from Lat. habitus, from habere, to have, hold, or, in a reflective sense, to be in a certain condition; in many of the English senses the French use habitude, not habit)

habit; many species, like the See also:

ENGLISH

English spurges, are See also:

ANNUAL

annual herbs, others See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form bushes, while in the See also:

DESERT

desert regions of tropical See also:

Africa and the See also:

Canary Islands species occur re- 893 unisexual, the male often containing numerous See also:

FLOWERS, ARTIFICIAL

flowers while the See also:

FEMALE

female flowers are solitary. The partial inflorescence (cyathium) of Euphorbia (fig. i) resembles superficially a hermaphrodite See also:

flower. - It contains a central terminal flower, consisting of a naked See also:

PISTIL

pistil; below this are See also:

BORNE, KARL LUDWIG (1786–1837)

borne four or five bracts which unite to form a See also:

CUP (in O.E. cuppe; generally taken to be from Late Lat. cuppa, a variant of Lat. cupa, a cask, cf. Gr. KuaeXXov)

cup-shaped involucre resembling a calyx; each of these bracts subtends a small cyme of male flowers each consisting only of one stamen. Between the segments of the cup are large See also:

OVAL (Lat. ovum, egg)

oval or See also:

CRESCENT (Lat. crescens, growing)

crescent-shaped glands which. are often brightly coloured, forming petal-like structures. The form of the flower shows great variety.

The most See also:

COMPLETE

complete type occurs in Wielandia, a See also:

SHRUB

shrub from the See also:

SEYCHELLES

Seychelles Islands, in which the flowers have their parts in See also:

FIVES

fives, a calyx and corolla being succeeded in the male flower by 5 stamens, in the female by 5 carpels. Generally, however, only 3 carpels are See also:

PRESENT

present, as in Euphorbia; Mercurialis (fig. 2) has See also:

minute apetalous flowers with 3 sepals, followed in the male by 8 to 20 stamens, in the female by a bicarpellary pistil. In the large tropical genus Croton a pentamerous calyx and corolla are generally present, the stamens are often very numerous, and the female flower has three carpels. In Manihot, a large tropical See also:

AMERICAN

American genus to which belongs the manioc or See also:

CASSAVA

cassava (M. utilissima), the calyx is often large and petaloid. In a great many genera the corolla is absent. The most reduced type of flower is that 4. 5. I. Shoot of Euphorbia hypericifolia, about z nat. See also:

SIZE

size. 2. A partial inflorescence, cyathium, bearing the petaloid glands.

3. A similar one at a later See also:

STAGE (Fr. 6/age; from Lat. stare, to stand)

stage, cut open to show the singlestamened (monandrous)male flowers and the central See also:

long-stalked female flower. A cyathium without petaloid glandular appendages. A similar one at a later stage with nearly ripe See also:

FRUIT (through the French from the Lat. fructus; frui, to enjoy)

fruit. 6. An anther dehiscing. 7. Fruit dehiscing and exposing one of the three seeds, I. 8. See also:

SEED (from the root seen in Lat. serere, to sow)

Seed. 9. Seed cut lengthwise exposing the embryo.

Io. See also:

DIAGRAM

Diagram of the inflorescence of Euphorbia, illustrating the dichasial' cymose arrangement of the ultimate branches. b, Bract subtending the central terminal cyathium I. a' b', Bracteoles of the first order subtending the secondary cyathia II. a" b", Bracteoles of the second order subtending the See also:

TERTIARY

tertiary cyathia III. In the central cyathium I. are shown, the details of, the arrangement of the male flowers in monochasial cymes, m, and the central female flower, f. sembling cacti, having thick fleshy stems and leaves reduced to spines. Another large genus, Phyllanthus, contains small annual herbs as well as trees, while in some species the leaves are reduced to scales, and the branches are flattened, forming phylloclades. The leaves also show great variety in form and arrangement, being See also:

SIMPLE

simple and entire as in the English spurges, or deeply cut as in Ricinus (See also:

CASTOR

castor-oil) (fig.. 3), and Manihot or sometimes palmately See also:

compound (Hevea). The See also:

MAJORITY (Fr. majorite; Med. Lat. majoritas; Lat. major, greater)

majority contain a milky juice or latex in their tissues which exudes on cutting or bruising. In Hevea, Manihot and others the latex yields caoutchouc.

The flowers are unisexual; male and female flowers are borne on the same, as in the spurges (fig. I), or on different plants, as in dog's mercury (fig. 2). Their arrangement shows considerable variation, but the flowers are generally grouped in crowded definite partial inflorescences, which are themselves arranged in spikes or stand in the axils of the upper leaves. These partial inflorescences are generally I. Male plant. 5. Fruit beginning to split open. 2. Female plant ; t nat. size. 6. Seed cut lengthwise showing 3.

Female flower. the embryo. ¢. Male flower, described in EUPBORI3IA, where the male consists of one stamen separated from its pedicel by a See also:

JOINT (through Fr. from Lat. junctum, jungere, to join)

joint, and the female of a naked tricarpellary pistil. The stamens are sometimes more or less See also:

UNITED

united. (monadelphous), and in castor-oil (Ricinus) (fig. 3) are much branched. The ovary generally contains threg See also:

chambers, and bears three simple or more often See also:

BIPARTITE (from the Lat. bi-, two, and partire, to divide)

bipartite styles; each chamber contains one or two pendulous ovules, which generally See also:

bear a cap-like outgrowth or caruncle, which persists in the seed (well shown in castor oil, fig. 3). As the stamens and pistil are borne by different flowers, See also:

CROSS

cross-fertilization is necessary. In Mercurialis and others with inconspicuous flowers See also:

POLLINATION

pollination is effected by the See also:

wind, but in many cases See also:

INSECTS

insects are attracted to the flower by the highly-coloured bracts, as in many Euphorbias and Dalechampia, or by the coloured calyx as in Manihot; the presence of See also:

HONEY (Chin. me ; Sansk. madhu, mead, honey; cf. A.S. medo, medu, mead; Gr. p Xt, in which 0 or b is changed into X; Lat. mel ; Fr. miel ; A.S. hung ; Ger. Honig)

honey is also frequently an attraction, as in the honey-glands on the bracts of the cyathium of Euphorbia. The fruit is generally a See also:

CAPSULE (from the Lat. capsula, a small box)

capsule which splits into three divisions (cocci), separating from the central See also:

COLUMN (Lat. columna)

column, and splitting lengthwise into two valves. In the mancinil (Ilippomane mancinella) of Central See also:

AMERICA

America the fruit is a drupe like a See also:

PLUM

plum, and in some genera berries occur.

In the sandbox See also:

tree (Hura crepitans) of tropical America the ovary consists of numerous carpels, and forms when mature a capsule which splits with great violence and a loud See also:

REPORT (O.Fr. report or raport, modern rapport, from O.Fr. reporter, mod. rap porter, Lat. reportare, to bring back, in poetical use only, of bringing back an account, news, &c.)

report into a number of woody cocci. The seeds contain abundant endosperm and a large straight or See also:

bent embryo. Several members of the order are of economic importance. From See also:

Bentley and Trimen's Medicinal Plants, by permission of J. & A. See also:

Churchill. 1. See also:

Section of male flower, about 4. Seed. nat. size. 5 and 6. See also:

VERTICAL (from Lat. vertex, highest point)

Vertical and transverse 2.

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