104 NYCTAGINACEAE 



5. Boerhaavia Wrightii A. Gray. Wright's Boerhaavia. Fig. 1575. 



Boerhaavia Wrightii A. Gray, Amer. Journ. Sci. II. IS: 322. 1853. 

 Boerhaavia bracteata S. Wats. Proc. Amer. Acad. 20: 370. 1S8S. 



Erect annual, 1-3 dm. high, branching from the base, the stems slender, pubescent below. 

 Leaves oblong to lanceolate, acute at apex, 2-5 cm. long, blades 1.5-4 cm. long, green above, 

 pale and glandular-punctate beneath; inflorescence glabrous or puberulent, the flowers in loose 

 spikes; bracts 3 mm. long, persistent, ciliolate; perianth pink, 1-2 mm. long; fruit clavate to 

 oblong, 2 mm. long, at least 1 mm. wide, mostly 4-angled, the angles broad but acute, sulci 

 broad, rugose. 



Gravelly plains and hillsides, Lower Sonoran Zone ; Nevada and southeastern border of California eastward 

 to western Texas and south to Coahuila, Mexico. Type locality: El Paso, Texas. July-Sept. 



Boerhaavia Coulteri (Hook, f.) S. Wats. Proc. Amer. Acad. 24: 70. 1899. Flowers in spikes as in B. 



Wrightii but having much more narrow fruit, narrow sulci and very short deciduous bracts. Reported from the 

 southeastern part of California. 



5. ALLIONIA L. Syst. ed. 10. 890. 1759. 



Prostrate annuals or perennials with dichotomous branches. Flowers perfect in 

 axillary pedunculate clusters of 3, each subtended by a bract which encloses the fruit. 

 Perianth 4-5-lobed. Stamens 4-7, exserted. Stigma capitate. Anthocarp coriaceous, com- 

 pressed, the margins thin, entire or toothed, revolute, outer surface with 1-2 longitudinal 

 rows of stipitate glands. Embryo curved, the broad cotyledons enclosing the endosperm. 

 [Name in honor of Allioni, early Italian botanist.] 



A genus of about 3 species found in the arid southwestern portion of the United States and south through 

 the American tropics to South America. Type species, Allionia incarnata L. 



1. Allionia incarnata L. Allionia or Windmills. Fig. 1576. 



Allionia incarnata L. Syst. ed. 10. 890. 1759. 



Allionia malacoides Benth. Bot. Sulph. 44. 1844. 



Wcdelia incarnata Kuntze, Rev. Gen. PI. 533. 1891. 



Wedeliella incarnata Cockerell, Torreya 9: 167. 1909. 



Wedelia incarnata subsp. villosa Standley, Contr. U.S. Nat. Herb. 12: 333. 1909. 



Wedelia incarnata subsp. nudata Standley, Contr. U.S. Nat. Herb. 12: 334. 1909. 



Winter annuals or perennials, with numerous, much-branched often trailing stems, 2-10 dm. 

 long, densely viscid-villous or glandular-puberulent throughout. Leaves 2-6 cm. long, petioles 

 0.4-2.5 mm long, blades broadly deltoid-orbicular to oval, usually rounded at the base, unequal, 

 green above, paler beneath; involucres on slender peduncles, 3-5 cm. long, the lobes free, ovate- 

 orbicular. 5-9 mm. long; perianth 6-15 mm. long, purplish red, rarely white; fruits 3-4.5 mm. 

 long, inner side 3-nerved, margins with 3-5 broad teeth or sometimes entire, strongly incurved. 



Dry, sandy soil, Upper and Lower Sonoran and Tropical Zones; southeastern California east to southern 

 Colorado, south to Chile and Argentina. Type locality: Venezuela. April-Sept. 



6. OXYBAPHUS L'Her. ex Willd. Sp. PI. 1 : 185. 1797. 



Perennial plants, mostly herbaceous from a woody root, the branches swollen at the 

 nodes. Leaves opposite, entire, sessile or petiolate. Flowers perfect, 1-3 in each involucre. 

 Involucre 5-lobed, accrescent, nearly rotate in age and strongly reticulate-veined. Peri- 

 anth campanulate to short-funnelform, the limb 5-lobed. Stamens unequal, 3-5, slightly 

 united at the base. Stigma depressed-capitate. Anthocarp narrowly obovoid, constricted 

 at base, conspicuously 5-angled or -ribbed, mucilaginous when wet. Embryo curved; 

 cotyledons enclosing the copious endosperm. [Name Greek, meaning a shallow dish, re- 

 ferring to the involucre.] 



A genus of about 25 species of the American tropical and subtropical regions and one additional species 

 in the Himalayan region. Type species. Allionia violacea L. 



Perianth longer than broad; leaves linear. L O. coccmeus. 

 Perianth broader than long; leaves not linear. 



Fruiting involucres 7-8 mm. long; leaves obtuse. 2. O. putnilus. 



Fruiting involucres 10-15 mm. long; leaves acuminate. 3. O. nyctagmeus. 



1. Oxybaphus coccineus Torr. Red Umbrella-wort. Fig. 1577. 



Oxybaphus coccineus Torr. Bot. Mex. Bound. 169. 1859. 



Mirabilis coccinea Benth. & Hook. Gen. PI. 3: 3. 1880. 



Oxybaphus linearifolius S. Wats. Proc. Amer. Acad. 17: 375. 1882. 



Allionia linearis var. coccinea M. E. Jones, Contr. West. Bot. No. 10: 51. 1902. 



Allionia coccinea Standley, Contr. U.S. Nat. Herb. 12: 339. 1909. 



Allionia gracillima Standley, Contr. U.S. Nat. Herb. 12: 340. 1909. 



Plants 3-6 dm. high, with slender erect or ascending branches, glaucescent, glabrous except 

 on the growing parts. Leaves filiform to linear, 3-8 cm. long, 1-6 mm. wide; inflorescence 

 loosely cymose ; involucres short-pilose, the lobes deeply cut, acute, 3-4 mm. long when young, 

 5-6 mm. in age; perianth deep red, 12-15 mm. long, the tube f unnelform ; stamens exserted; 

 fruit finely puberulent, 5-ribbed, somewhat rugose. 



Desert slopes, Upper Sonoran Zone, Providence Mountains, California, east to New Mexico. Type locality: 

 Copper Mines, New Mexico. May-Aug. 



