ALLIONACEAE. 71 



2. PHYTOLACCA [Tourn.] L. Eelatively large or stout plants. Flowers 

 paniculate, the pauicles often raceme-like. Sepals broad, spreading under the 

 compound fruit. 



1. P. rigida Small. Plants 1-3 m. tall, or sometimes arl)orescent and becom- 

 ing 6 or 7 m. tall, the branches greenish-purple: leaf-l)lades lanceolate to 

 oblong-lanceolate, 7-34 cm. long: berries 10-12 mm. wide. — Hammocks. — 

 F. K. — Poke. Ixk-berry. 



Family 5. PETIVERIACEAE. Petiveria Family. 



"Woody plants, usually strong-scented. Leaves alternate : blades firm, 

 entire. Flowers perfect, in virg-ate spikes. Hypantliium present. Calyx 

 of 4 nearly equal sejjals. Corolla wanting. Androecium of 4—8 stamens, 

 borne like tlie calyx on the long hypantbium. Gynoecium a single carpel 

 borne in the hypantbium. Fruit an achene with reflexed spines at the top. 



1. PETIVERIA [Plum.] L. Plants with extensively creeping or hori- 

 zontal rootstocks. Leaves with narrow stipules. Achenes appressed to the 

 spike-rachis. 



1. P. alliacea L. Stems 3-10 dm. tall, often with virgate branches: leaf- 

 blades obovate, elliptic-obovate, or elliptic, 4-12 cm. long: spikes 1-3 dm. 

 long, interrupted : sepals linear to linear-lanceolate, 3-4 mm. long, about as 

 long as the hypanthium : achenes linear-cuneate, 6-10 mm. long, the spines i 

 as long as the body or less. — Hammocks. — F. K. (Bah., Cuha, Ant.) 



Family 6. BATIDACEAE. Saltwort Family. 



Maritime partially succulent shrubs. Leaves opposite, fleshy, half- 

 terete, linear or elavate, entire. Flowers small, dioecious, in axillary 

 cones. Staminate cones with persistent imbricate scales each subtending 

 a flower : calyx eup-shaped, 2-lobed : stamens 4—5, inserted at the base of 

 the calyx : filaments thick, alternating with staminodia. Pistillate cones 

 peduncled, 4-12-flowered, the scales deciduous: the flowers each consisting 

 of merely a 4-celled ovary with a sessile stigma. Ovule 1 in each cavity. 

 Fruit a fleshy cone. 



1. 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 em. 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. — F. K. (Bah., Cuba, Arit.) — Saltwort. 



Family 7. ALLIONIACEAE. Four-o'clock Family. 



Herbs with dichotomous stems or 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 corolloid, deciduous above 

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

 below^ the ovary. Gynoecium a single pistil. Fruit an anthocarp. 



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. 



