XCIX. rLAKXAGINACE.Ti:. 479 



meiubranoiis margins, smoolh. 11. B. I. v. 4, p. 707 ; Woodr. in Jonrn. 

 Bomb. Kat. v. 12'(1899) p. 363. 



Sind: Kirthar Mountains, Sir E. James ex JVoodrow. — Disthib. India (Panj.'ib 

 hills) ; westwards to Arabia and Egypt. 



OnBER C. NYCTAGINACEiE. 



Herbs, shrubs or trees. Leaves usually opposite, entire ; stipules 0. 

 Flowers hermaphrodite (rarely unisexual), rep;ular, sometimes dimorphous; 

 inflorescence various ; bracts often involucrate, free or connate. Perianth 

 monosepalous, usually small, petaloid ; tube persistent, enveloping the 

 fruit; limb 3-5-lobed, persistent or deciduous, the lobes plicate in bud. 

 Stamens 1-30, liypogynous, sometimes unilateral ; filaments small, 

 unequal, inflexed in bud ; anthers included or exserted, dorsifixed, didy- 

 mous. Ovary 1-celled, free ; ovule solitary, basal, erect ; style filiform, 

 involute in bud ; stigma small, simple or mnltifid. Fruit membranous, 

 indehiscent, enclosed in the coriaceous perianth-tube. iSeed erect ; testa 

 adherent; albumen soft or floury; embryo straight with convolute coty- 

 ledons or incurved ; radicle inferior. — Distbib. Genera 22 ; species 

 about 220 in tropical aud warm regions. 



Embryo hooked ; radicle long ; limb of perianth plicate 1. BoeriiaAvia. 



Embryo straight; radicle short; limb of perianth induplicato- 



valvate 2. Pisonia. 



1. BOERHAAVIA, Linn. 



Erect or diffuse often divaricately branched herbs. Leaves opposite, 

 often in unequal pairs. Flowers small, paniculate, umbellate or sub- 

 capitate, articulated with the pedicel; bracteoles small, often deciduous, 

 rarely whorled aud involucrate. Perianth-tube long or short, ovoid 

 below, narrowed above the ovary ; limb funnel-shaped with 5-lobed 

 margin, the lobes plicate. Stamens 1 or 2-5, connate below, exserted ; 

 filaments capillary, unequal. Ovary oblique, stipitate; ovule erect; 

 stigma peltate. Prnit enclosed in the ovoid, turbinate or clavate, obtuse 

 or truncate perianth-tube, round, 5-ribbed or 5-angled, viscidly glandular. 

 Seeds with adherent testa ; embryo hooked ; cotyledons thin, broad, the 

 outer the larger, enclosing a soft scanty albumen. — Disteib. Tropical 

 and Subtropical ; species about 30. 



Herbaceous, diffuse or subscandent. 



Fruit glandular along the ribs not at the crown. 



Flowers pink or purple, in small umbels, sessile or with 

 very short pedicels ; ojiposite pairs of leaves very 



unequal, obtuse 1. B. diffusa. 



Flowers pink, in umbels with pedicels ^-| in. long ; oppo- 

 site pairs of leaves nearlj' equal, acute 2. B. re panda. 



Fruit with large glands at the crown ; flowers in whorls, 



white; leaved obtuse 3. B. vcrticillata. 



Shrubby, erect. 



Leaves ovate, acute, petiolate ; stem and branches stout, 

 densely clothed with viscid glandular hairs ; fruit glandular 



along the ribs 4. B.fruficosa. 



Leaves linear-oblong, obtuse, sessile ; stem and branches 



slender, glabrous ; fruit not glandular along the ribs 5. B.elegans. 



