NTCTAGINACEAE. 131 



the limb rather widely expanded. Stamens 5, exserted, the filaments slender. 

 Ovary oblique; style slender. Fruit elavate, 10-ribbed, mucilaginous-glandular, 

 the glands rather large. [Greek, viscid fruit.] About 5 species, natives of 

 tropical and subtropical America, the following typical. 



1. Commicarpus scandens (L.) Standley, Contr. Nat. Herb. 12: 373. 1909. 

 Boerhaavea scandens L. Sp. PI. 3. 1753. 



Glabrous; stems slender, pale, elongated and often vine-like, much 

 branched, sometimes 2 m. long. Leaves ovate, rather thin, somewhat fleshy, 

 1-4 em. long, acute, acuminate or obtuse at the apex, cordate or truncate at the 

 base, the petioles 2.5 cm. long or less; peduncles slender, mostly longer than 

 the leaves; umbels several-flowered; pedicels filiform, 5-12 mm. long; calyx 

 greenish, about 6 mm. broad, its tube and teeth short ; fruit narrowly elavate, 

 7-10 mm. long, glandular toward the blunt apex, its ribs low and obscure. 



Scrub-lands, thickets and coppices, New Providence, Eleuthera, Cave Cay. Ack- 

 lin's Island, Grand Turk. Ambergris Cay and Anguilla Isles : Florida : Texas and 

 Arizona to Guatemala. Colombia and Peru: Jamaica'; Cuba to Virgin Gorda and St. 

 Barts : Bonaire ; Aruba ; Curagao. Commicarpus. 



4. TORRUBIA Yell. Fl. Flum. 139. 1S25. 



Shrubs or trees, with opposite often somewhat fleshy leaves, and small 

 greenish dioecious panicled flowers. Calyx-limb 5-toothed. Stamens about 

 10, exserted, the filaments filiform. Ovary sessile ; style slender or short. 

 Anthocarp fleshy, drupe-like, obovoid to ellipsoid or subglobose, without glands 

 in rows, enclosing the utricle. [Commemorates Jose Torrubia, a Spanish 

 naturalist.] Fifteen species or more, of tropical and subtropical America. 

 Type species: Torrubia opposita Yell. 



Petioles stout ; leaves 6-9 cm. long, coriaceous, reticulate-veined beneath. 



Leaves broadly elliptic, mostly subcordate at the base. 1. T. obtusata. 



Leaves obovate, cuneate or narrowed at the base. 2. T. CokcrL 



Petioles slender ; leaves 4-6 cm. long, fleshy-chartaceous, very 

 indistinctly veined. 

 Fruit globose-obovoid to ellipsoid, little longer than thick ; 



anthocarp 4-6 mm. long. 3. T. lotuiifolia. 



Fruit oblong-obovoid. twfee as long as thick ; anthocarp 7-8 



mm. long. , 4. T. Bracei. 



1. Torrubia obtusata (Jacq.) Britton, Bull. Torr. Club 31: 612. 1904. 



Pisonia obtusata Jacq. Hort. Schoen. 3: 35. 1798. 

 Pisonia calophylla Heimerl, Bot. Jahrb. 21: 625. 1896. 



A shrub, or a small tree up to 13 m. high, the twigs rather slender, sub- 

 terete, pale gray, the bark of the trunk white. Leaves ovate or elliptic, coria- 

 ceous, 69 cm. long, about twice as long as wide, rounded at the apex, rounded, 

 subcordate or some of them narrowed at the base, often involute-margined, the 

 stout petioles 3-7 mm. long; panicles usually many-flowered, as long as the 

 leaves or shorter; flowers sessile, puberulent or glabrate; fruit oblong, bright 

 red, shining, 8-10 mm. long. 



Low conpices and scrub-lands. Ahaco, Great Bahama. New Providence. Eleu- 

 thera. Cat Island. Great Exuma. Acklin's, Crooked and Fortune Islands : Cuba ; 

 Santo Domingo. Broad-leaved Blollt. 



2. Torrubia Cokeri Britton, Bull. Torr. Club 31: 613. 1904. 



Glabrous, the twigs gray. Leaves firm, obovate, 8 cm. long or less, 3-4 

 em. wide, rounded at the apex, narrowed or somewhat cuneate at the base; 



