FOUR-O'CLOCK FAMILY 103 



the filaments unequal. Stigma peltate. Anthocarp obovoid or obpyramidal, costate, angu- 

 late or winged. Embryo curved; cotyledons enclosing the endosperm. [Name in honor of 

 H. Boerhaave, Dutch botanist.] 



A genus of some 30 species found in the tropics and warm temperate regions of both hemispheres. Type 

 species, Boerliaavia repens L. 



Anthocarp 10-nerved; perianth funnelform. !• B - annulata. 



Anthocarp 3-5-nerved or angled; perianth eampanulate. 



Perennials; anthocarp glandular-pubescent. 2 - B - coccinea. 



Annuals; anthocarp glabrous. 



Ultimate branches of the inflorescence with flowers in umbel-like clusters or solitary on slender pedicels; 

 bracts shorter than the mature fruit, usually deciduous; fruit obpyramidal. 

 Flowers in umbels; fruit narrowly obpyramidal. 3. B. intermedia. 



Flowers mostly solitary on slender pedicels; fruit broadly obpyramidal. 4. B. triquetra. 



Ultimate branches of the inflorescence with flowers in spikes; bracts as long as the mature fruit, per- 

 sistent; fruit clavate. s - B - Wrxghtix. 



1. Boerhaavia annulata Coville. Death Valley Boerhaavia. Fig. 1571. 



Boerhaavia annulata Coville, Contr. U.S. Nat. Herb. 4: 177. 1893. 

 Anulocaulis annulatus Standley, Contr. U.S. Nat. Herb. 12: 375. 1909. 



Coarse biennials or perennials, 5-10 dm. high, the branches stout, few from the decumbent 

 base, viscous areas on the internodes at regular intervals, stems glabrous. Leaves 3-10 cm. long, 

 petioles 1-3 cm. long, oval to ovate-deltoid, irregularly repand-dentate, dark green above, pale 

 beneath reddish-veined, covered with long jointed white hairs with dark glandular bases; in- 

 florescence leafless, flowers in dense head-like clusters; bracts short, persistent, covered with 

 long white hairs; perianth 7-8 mm. long, greenish or pinkish, the tube pubescent without; 

 stamens 3, long-exserted ; fruit biturbinate, 10-11-ribbed, 4-5 mm. long. 



Hot, dry canyons, Lower Sonoran Zone; Inyo County, California. Type locality: Furnace Creek Canyon, 

 Death Valley region, California. April-May. Sticky-ring. 



2. Boerhaavia coccinea Mill. Common or Red Boerhaavia. Fig. 1572. 



Boerhaavia coccinea Mill. Gard. Diet. ed. 8. no. 4. 1768. 



Boerhaavia caribaea Jacq. Obs. Bot. 4:5. 1771. 



Boerhaavia polytnorpha Rich. Act. Soc. Hist. Nat. Paris 1: 185. 1792. 



Boerhaavia hirsuta Willd. Phytog. 1: 1. 1794. 



Boerhaavia viscosa Lag. & Rodr. Anal. Ci. Nat. Madrid 4: 256. 1801. 



Boerhaavia sonorae Rose, Contr. U.S. Nat. Herb. 1: 110. 1891. 



Boerhaavia ramuiosa M. E. Jones, Contr. West. Bot. No. 10: 40. 1902. 



Boerhaavia ixodes Standley, Contr. U.S. Nat. Herb. 13: 423. 1911. 



Decumbent or prostrate perennial, branching from the base, with many stout stems, 3-14 

 dm. long, viscid-pubescent and sometimes glandular-hirsute below, more or less glandular 

 above. Leaves 2-6 cm. long, ovate-orbicular to oblong, rounded to acute at the apex, green 

 above, pale below, with a brown-punctate margin, glabrous to hirsute, often viscid ; inflorescence 

 cymos'e, much branched, the branches slender, glandular-pubescent ; flowers in heads on slender 

 peduncles; bracts minute, lanceolate; perianth purplish red, 2 mm. long; stamens 1-3, barely 

 exserted; fruit clavate, 2.5-3.5 mm. long, densely glandular-puberulent, 5-costate, the sulci 

 smooth, broader than the ribs. 



Sandy desert, Lower Sonoran and Tropical Zones; northern and western edge of the Colorado Desert Cali- 

 fornia, eastward to the Southern States, and south to the American tropics. Type locality: Jamaica. June- 

 Sept. 



3. Boerhaavia intermedia M. E. Jones. Jones' Boerhaavia. Fig. 1573. 



Boerhaavia intermedia M. E. Jones, Contr. West. Bot. No. 10: 41. 1902. 

 Boerhaavia universitatis Standley, Contr. U.S. Nat. Herb. 12: 380. 1909. 



Erect annual, 2-5 dm. high, branching from the base, the branches ascending, slender, 

 minutely puberulent throughout. Leaves broadly oblong to ovate-lanceolate, obtuse or acute at 

 the apex, 4-5 cm. long, 1-5 cm. broad, often brown-punctate, green above, pale beneath; in- 

 florescence cymose, paniculate, flowers in umbel-like clusters at tips of the branches; bracts 

 minute; perianth pink, 1.5-2 mm. long; stamens 2-3, mostly equaling the perianth; anthocarp 

 obpyramidal, 2-2.7 mm. long, about 1 mm. broad at the apex, sharply 5-angled, the sulci narrow, 



rueose. 



Sandy desert, Lower Sonoran Zone; Colorado Desert, California, and Lower California eastward through 

 Texas and Central Mexico. Type locality: El Paso, Texas. July-Sept. 



4. Boerhaavia triquetra S. Wats. Slender Boerhaavia. Fig. 1574. 



Boerhaavia triquetra S. Wats. Proc. Amer. Acad. 24: 69. 1889. 



Slender-stemmed annual, branching from the base with ascending branches. Leaves oblong 

 to narrowly lanceolate, 1-3 cm. long, paler beneath, sometimes glandular punctate ; inflorescence 

 cvmose usually much branched, the branches slender ; flowers pink, solitary, rarely in clusters 

 of 2 or '3 1.2-1.4 mm. long; stamens 2, included; fruit obpyramidal, 3-5-angled, in ours mostly 

 5-angled, 2-2.5 mm. long, 1.3-1.8 mm. broad, angles broad, mostly smooth, very acute, sulci 

 open, rugose. 



In sandy or rocky desert soil, Lower Sonoran Zone; Little San Bernardino Mountains California, and 

 western Arizona to eastern Lower California and western Sonora, Mexico Type locality : . L ° s A ^ e a s _3*?' 

 Lower California. Sept.-Oct. Our specimens differ from the type in having the fruit 4-5- instead of 3-4-anglea, 

 and angles less acute. 



