102 NYCTAGINACEAE 



1. HERMIDIUM S. Wats. Bot. King Expl. 286. 1871. 

 Perennial herbs with erect, dichotomous branching stems and opposite, short-petiolate, 

 entire leaves. Flowers in axillary or terminal head-like clusters, each sessile on the costa 

 of a foliaceous bract. Perianth campanulate-f unnelf orm ; stamens 5-7 ; filaments unequal, 

 united at the base. Ovary globose ; style capillary, equaling the perianth ; stigma capitate. 

 Anthocarp ellipsoid; embryo curved, enclosing the endosperm; cotyledons orbicular, the 

 inner smaller. [Name Greek, diminutive of Hermes.] 



A monotypic genus of the Great Basin region. Type species, Hermidium alipes S. Wats. 



1. Hermidium alipes S. Wats. Winged Hermidium. Fig. 1568. 



Hermidium alipes S, Wats. Bot. King Expl. 286. pi. 32. 1871. 



Plants 1.5-4 dm. high, glaucous throughout, glabrous or obscurely puberulent above, the 

 stems few from a woody caudex, stout, curved. Leaves thick, petiole 1—10 mm. long, blade 2-7 

 cm. long, suborbicular to oval-ovate, apiculate or rounded at the apex; inflorescence 4-6- 

 flowered ; peduncles 3-12 mm. long ; bracts oblong to ovate, 1-2 cm. long, rounded or subcordate 

 at the base, usually slightly united ; perianth purplish red, 2-2 . 5 cm. long ; stamens about equal- 

 ing the perianth ; fruit 6-7 mm. long, a little narrowed at each end, surface smooth or obscurely 

 roughened, 9-10-nerved. 



Foothills, Upper Sonoran Zone; northern central Nevada, south to the Panamint and White Mountains, 

 California, and east to Utah. Type locality: "From the Big Bend of the Truckee River to Oreana on the Hum- 

 boldt," Nevada. May-June. 



2. SELINOCARPUS A. Gray, Amer. Journ. Sci. II. 15: 262. 1853. 



Dichotomously branching perennial herbs often shrubby at the base. Leaves opposite, 

 petiolate, blade thick, the margins entire or sinuate. Flowers sessile or pedicellate, 

 bracteate in few- to many-flowered clusters, axillary or at the ends of the branches. 

 Perianth tubular-funnelform, not constricted above the ovary. Stamens 3-5. Anthocarp 

 with 3-5 hyaline wings. [Name from the resemblance of the fruit to that of the genus 

 Selinus.] 



A genus of about 7 species occurring in southwestern United States and adjacent Mexico with one species 

 reported from Africa. Type species, Selinocarpus diffusus A. Gray. 



1. Selinocarpus diffusus A. Gray. Desert Wing-fruit. Fig. 1569. 



Selinocarpus diffusus A. Gray, Amer. Journ. Sci. II. IS: 262. 1853. 



Selinocarpus diffusus subsp. nevadensis Standley, Contr. U.S. Nat. Herb. 12: 388. 1909. 



Diffusely branched perennial herb, 1-2 dm. high, more or less glandular-puberulent and very 

 leafy throughout. Leaves ovate, acute or obtuse at the apex, the petiole equaling or exceeding 

 the blade; flowers solitary or in 2's, often cleistogamous, the pedicels very short; subtending 

 bracts subulate, 3-5 mm. long ; perianth greenish, 3-4 cm. long ; anthocarp 6-7 mm. long, 4-5- 

 winged, truncate, the body puberulent. 



In dry soil, Sonoran Zone; Utah and Nevada to the eastern edge of San Bernardino County, California, and 

 east to Texas. Type locality: southwestern Texas. June-Sept. 



3. ACLEISANTHES A. Gray, Amer. Journ. Sci. II. 15: 259. 1853. 



Plants perennial, sometimes shrubby, with opposite, petiolate, entire leaves. Flowers 

 white or purple tinged, subtended by 1-3 small bracts, axillary or terminal, solitary or 

 occasionally in 2-3-flowered cymes. Perianth funnelform, with long tube and shallowly 

 5-lobed limb, constricted above the ovary. Stamens 2-5, unequal, exceeding the perianth- 

 tube. Ovary ovoid or oblong ; style exserted ; stigma capitate. Anthocarp narrowly ellip- 

 soid, 5-angled or -ribbed, the ribs sometimes ending in conspicuous glands. Embryo 

 curved cotyledons enclosing the endosperm. [Name Greek, in allusion to the absence of 

 an involucre.] 



A genus of about 7 species, native of southwestern United States and Mexico. 



1. Acleisanthes longiflora A. Gray. Yerba de la Rabia. Fig. 1570. 



Acleisanthes longiflora A. Gray, Amer. Journ. Sci. II. 15: 261. 1853. 



Plants decumbent or ascending from a woody root, the stems slender, puberulent above, 

 glabrate below. Leaves thick, entire, sometimes with crisped margins, petioles 3-8 mm. long, the 

 blades deltoid to rhombic-ovate or lanceolate, 1.5-4.5 cm. long; flowers mostly solitary, sessile; 

 bracts subulate, 2-3 mm. long; perianth white tinged with purple, sparsely puberulent, 10-16 cm. 

 long, the limb 1.5-2 cm. broad; anthocarp narrowly oblong, 5-6 mm. long, truncate at both 

 ends, 5-angled, longitudinally striate between the ribs. 



Not common, desert slopes, Lower Sonoran Zone; eastern borders of Riverside County, California, to south- 

 western Texas and Chihuahua and Coahuila, Mexico. Type locality: valley of the Limpio, Texas. May. 



4. BOERHAAVIA L. Sp. PI. 3. 1753. 



Annual or perennial herbs usually branching from the base, the stems usually with 

 viscous areas on the internodes. Leaves opposite, petiolate. Flowers perfect, bracteate, 

 the bracts mostly minute. Perianth funnelform, campanulate to rotate. Stamens 2-5, 



