Mirahilis 



NYCTAGINACE.^ 



147 



Testa of seed adhering to the pericarp. Embryo curved : coty- 

 ledons surrounding the floury endosperm ; radicle long. 

 Species 24, natives of tropical America. 



M. Jalapa L. Sp. PL 177 (1753) ; Wright Mem. 225 ; Choisy 

 in DC. Prodr. xiii. 2, 427 ; Griseh. Fl. Br. W. Ind. 69 ; Heimerl 

 in Engl Bof. Jahrh. xxi. 616; Urh. Sijmh. Ant. iv. 224. (Fig. 49.) 



Four o'clock, Marvel of Peru. 



Sloatie, fruit coll.! Moneague, Priori ^Mavis Bank, Troy, Harrisl 

 Bahamas, West Indies, continental tropical America. Cult, in tropics. 



Stem 1 to 2 ft. Leaves 2-10 cm. 1., ovate, acuminate, base sometimes 

 subcordate, long stalked. Floicers 5 cm. 1., white, tinted with red, 

 purplish, or yellow with purple lines, in terminal clusters. Anthocarp 

 about 1"5 cm. 1. 



2. BOERHAVIA L. 



Erect, difi'use or climbincj herbs, Avoodv at the base. Leaves 

 opposite. Flowers very small, sessile or subsessile in panicles^, 



A, Portion of plant. 



B, Portion of inflorescence. 



C, Flower with part of the perianth 



removed. 



Fig. 50. Boerhavia erecta L. 

 D, Fniit. 



E, Fruit cut lengthwise showing seed. 



F, Embryo ; c, cotyledon ; r, radicle. 



or long-stalked in pedunculate umbels, with minute bracts. 

 Perianth constricted above the persistent tube, limb funnel- 

 shaped or campanulate, margin 5-lobed, plicate, deciduous. 



L L' 



