48 ALLIONACEAE. 



itOl. BATIS P. Br. Plants with smooth and glabrous foliage. Leaves 

 without stipules, 



1. B. maritima L. Plant pale-green strong-scented, the stem and branches 

 spreading or prostrate, 0.5-1.5 m. long: leaves curved, 1-2.5 cm. long: cones 

 5-10 mm. long, ovoid: bracts reniform to suborbicular, often apiculate: fruits 

 oblong or ovoid, 1-2 cm. long, short-stalked, drooping.— Salt or brackish 

 shores, U. S. keys, U. keys, L. keys, L. S. keys. — [E. K.] — {Bah., Cuba, Aiit.) 

 ■ — Saltwort. 



Fa^iily 7. ALLIONIACEAE. Four-o'clock Family. 



Herbs with diehotomous stems oi* shrubs or trees. Leaves opposite: 

 blades entire or nearly so. Flowers mostly perfect, 1 or more in an invo- 

 lucre. Calyx of several united sepals, usually coroUoid, deciduous above 

 the ovary. Corolla wanting. Androecium of 1-many stamens, borne 

 below the ovary. Gynoeeium a single pistil. Fruit an anthoearp. 



Herbs : embryo hooked. 



Involucre present, of 3-5, or more, distinct or united bracts. 



Stamens 3-6 : fruit not subterranean. 1. Mirabilis. 



Stamens 14-18 : fruit subterranean; 2. Okenia. 



Involucre wanting or imperfect. 3. Boerhaavia. 



Shrubs or trees : embryo straight. 



Fruits without glands. 4. Torrcbia. 



Fruits with 5 rows of glands. 5. Pisonia. 



' 1. MIRABILIS L. Perennial herbs. Leaves opposite. Flowers typically 

 1 in an involucre. Calyx salverform, the limb large. Stamens 3-6: filaments 

 united at the base. Fruit of an ovoid type, constricted near the base. 



1. M, Jalapa L. Plants glabrous, except the young parts: leaf -blades ovate, 

 sometimes broadly so, 3-12 cm. long: involucres 7-8 mm. long; lobes acute: 

 calyx deep-red to purple or white: fruits broadly ovoid. — Cultivated grounds 

 and roadsides, and waste places, Key West. Nat. of Mex. — [E. K.] — (Ber., 

 Bah., Cuba, Ant.) — Four-o'clock. 



2. OKENIA Schlecht. & Cham. Annual prostrate herbs. Leaves oppo- 

 site: blades inequilateral. Flowers solitary in the 3-bracted involucres. 

 Calyx short-funnelform, the lobes emarginate. Stamens 14-18: filaments 

 united at the base. Fruit somewhat elongate, bent, 1-striate and transversely 

 wrinkled, subterranean. 



1. O. hypogaea Schlecht. & Cham. Stem and branches creeping, densely 

 viscid-pubescent, 2-11 dm. long: leaf -blades fleshy, ovate to oblong-ovate, 

 2.5-4 cm. long, obtuse at the apex, truncate or cordate at the base, stout- 

 petioled: corolla deep-blue or rose-purple, 3-4 cm. wide on young plants, 6-8 

 mm. wide on mature plants: fruits oblong, 1-1.5 cm. long. — Coastal sand-dunes 

 and hammocks, U. S. keys, U. keys. — (Mex.) 



3. BOERHAAVIA [Vaill.] L. Annual or perennial usually diffuse 

 herbs. Leaves opposite: blades often undulate. Flowers subtended by minute 

 bracts. Calyx campanulate to rotate, the tube not prolonged beyond the 

 ovary. Fruit clavate to obovoid, 5-10 ribbed. 



Fruits glandular, roimded or acutish at the apex : plants perennial. 



Fruits scarcely, if at all, grooved : flower-clusters loosely few-flowered. 



1. B. paniciilata. 

 Fruits decidedly grooved : flower-clusters many-flowered, often 



dense. 2. B. viscosa. 



Fruits glabrous, flat at the apex : plants annual. 3. B. erecta. 



