III.] 



NYCTAGINEM. 



265 



Type — Greater Plantain {Flafitago major). 



Herb of waste places, with broad radical leaves, and 

 small, spicate, greenish flowers. 



Observe the dry, scarious corolla : the slender filaments : 

 the transverse dehiscence of the small, capsular fruit. 



A small, widely-spread Family, with inconspicuous flowers, 

 usually arranged in spikes. The species serving as Type is a 

 common weed in Europe as well as in India. The flowers 

 of the Indian form are often more loosely arranged upon the 

 long spike than in the common EngUsh plant. The seeds 

 of one species {F, decumbefis \IsJ>aghuld\) are sold in the 

 bazaars : they are useful in medicine owing to their cooling 

 mucilage. 



Division— mCOyiV^LETJE. 



77. Natural Order, Nyctaginecd. — The Marvel-of-Peru Family. 

 Herbs or shrubs, with alternate or opposite, unequal 

 leaves. Base of the perianth-tube persistent, enclosing the 

 one-celled, one-seeded, superior ovary. 



Type — Boerhaavia diffusa. 

 A common perennial, procumbent weed, with opposite, 

 more or less unequal, ovate or cordate leaves, and loose 

 panicles of small red or white flowers, collected in small 

 heads. 



