2 CIV. NYCTAGINE.E (baker AND wright). [MirabUts. 



plicate, deciduous. Stamens 5-6, unequal, exserted ; filaments capil- 

 lary, incurved at the apex, united into a short cup at the base ; anther- 

 cells subglobose. Ovary ellipsoid or ovoid ; style filiform, exserted ; 

 stigma capitellate, bearing stalked papillae. Fruit enclosed in the 

 hardened base of the perianth and surrounded at the base by the 

 persistent staminal cup. Seeds adhering to the pericarp; embryo 

 curved ; cotyledons surrounding the scanty farinaceous endosperm. — 

 Di- or tri-chotomously branched herbs, glabrous or glandular- pubescent ; 

 roote elongated or tuberous. Leaves opposite, the lower petioled, upper 

 sessile. Involucres cymosely arranged. Flowers rather large, fragrant 

 or inodorous, white, red or variously coloured. 

 Species about 10, in the hotter parts of America. 



1. M. Jalapa, Linn. Sp. PL ed. i. 177. An erect perennial herb 

 about 2 ft. high. Koot napiform. Stem glabrous or shortly pubescent. 

 Leaves thin, ovate or ovate-cordate, acuminate, glabrous or pulverulent 

 above, often ciliate on tlie margin and bearing cystoliths below, 3 in. 

 long, 1^^ in. wide; petiole slender, ^ in. long. Involucre ^ in. long; 

 lobes ovate. Flowers 3-6 in each cyme. Perianth purple, red, yellow 

 or white ; tube l^ in. long, cylindrical below, funnel-shaped at the top ; 

 limb spreading, 1 in. or rather more in diam. — Ait. Hort. Kew. ed. l,i. 

 234 ; Bot. Mag. t. 371 ; Plenck, Ic. PI. ii. 37, t. 137 ; Choisy in DC. 

 Prodr. xiii. ii. 427; Schmidt in Mart. Fl. Bras. xiv. ii. 349, t. 81; 

 Hiern in Cat. Afr. PI. Welw. i. 881 ; Cummins in Kew Bulletin, 1898, 

 77. M. dichotoma, Linn. Syst. ed. 10, ii. 931, and Sp. PI. ed. 2, 252; 

 Welw. Apont. 547. Nyctago Jalapce, DC. Fl. Fran^. iii. 426. Jalapa 

 officinalis^ Crantz, Inst. ii. 266. 



Upper Guinea. Ashanti, Cummins! Lagos, Punchy 19! Rowland! Sierra 

 Leone, Winwood Reade ! 



irile band. Gallabat : region of Matamina, 5cAtrei/i/ur<A, 2444! 



IdOwer Oalnea. Island of St. Thomas, Moller. Aneola: Cazengo and 

 Oolungo Alto ; in forests on the banks of the River Luinhn, Welwitsch, 5376, 5377 ; 

 Icolo e Bengo ; at the convent of San Antonio, Welwitsch, 5377b ; Pungo Andongo ; 

 abundant along the banks of streams, Welwitsch. 



Mozamb. Blst. German East Africa : Usambara ; Amboni, Hoist, 2799 •' 

 Portuguese East Africa : Mozambique, Peters. Sbamo, near the mouth of the 

 River Shire, iTirX: / Nyasaland : Manganja Hills; at N'Garls Village, 3000 ft., 

 Meller ! Waller ! Zanzibar, Lyne ! 



A native of Peru, now established in many parts of the Old World. 



2. BOERHAAVIA, Yaill. ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. PI. iii. 5. 



Bracts minute, rarely forming an involucre. Perianth-tube cylin- 

 drical, the lower part persistent and becoming hardened to enclose the 

 fruit, the upper part petaloid and deciduous; limb shortly 5-lobed. 

 Stamens 1-5, more or less exserted ; filaments capillary, connate at the 

 base ; anthers 2-celled. Ovary stipiLate ; style capillary ; stigma 

 peltate. Persistent base of the perianth clavate, hard, 5-ribbed, often 



