NYCTAGINACEAE FOUR-O’CLOCK FAMILY 
WILD FOUR-O’CLOCK. HEART-LEAVED 
UMBRELLAWORT 
Oxybaphus nyctagineus (Michx.) Sweet 
The Four-o’clock family is a relatively unimportant 
group, represented in our gardens bythe MarvelofPeru. In 
it the colored calyx is commonly mistaken for the corolla 
because below each 
flower is a green in- 
volucre that looks Et MS 
like a calyx. QQ y 
Several species of & SM 
Wild Four-o’clock are i 
occasionally found in YT NY \ 
Illinois but only this ~~ ISS 
one is common. It 
occurs in dry soil 
throughout the Missis- 
sippi basin from Can- 
ada to Louisiana and 
west as far as Colorado. 
In this state it is a characteristic 
weed of the sand or gravel beds of 
railroads, where its red flowers are 
very conspicuous. 
The stem, often angled or 4-sided 
below, is rather slender, much 
branched and 1-3 feet high. The 
opposite leaves are smooth or nearly 
so and all are petioled except the upper bractlike ones. The root 
is large and perennial. 
This plant blooms from May or June to August, the numer- 
ous flowers being produced in small clusters in 5-lobed involucres. 
The red corollalike calyx is tubular and constricted or narrow- 
ed above the ovary. There are 3-5 stamens and 1 long style. 
The fruits are 1-seeded and covered with short hairs. 
The Narrow-leaved Umbrellawort, Oxybaphus linearis (Pursh) 
Robinson, is a tall species, smooth except for the slightly hairy 
peduncles and involucres. The leaves are thick and linear, and 
covered with a whitish bloom. They are usually sessile or nearly so. 
$1 
