148 FLORA OF JAMAICA Boerhavia 



Stamens 2 (rarely 3) in Jamaican species, filaments connate at 

 the base. Ovary narrowed to the base ; style with peltate 

 stigma. Anthocarp small, ribbed. Seed adhering to the 

 pericarp. Embryo bent on itself. Cotyledons large, flat, folded • 

 over the small endosperm at the base of the seed. Hog Weed. 

 Species about 30, widely dispersed through the warmer 

 regions of the world. 



Flowers not more than 3 mm. 1., sessile or subsessile in 

 panicles. 



Flowers rose-colourod. Seed-vessel glabrous 1. B. erecta. 



Flowers blood-red. Seed vessel with glandular hairs. 



Seed-vessel oblong-clavate, 4-6 mm. 1 2. B. paniculata. 



Seed-vessel obovoid-clavate, 2-5-4 mm. 1 3. B. hirsuta. 



Flowers 6-7 mm. 1., umbellate on a long peduncle 4. B. scandens. 



1. B. erecta L. Sp. PL 3 (1753); herbaceous, stem glabrate 

 or sparsely puberulous, not glutinous; leaves ovate undulate to 

 lanceolate, apex acute, generally marked with reddish dots, 

 whitish underneath ; flowers rose-coloured, subsessile or shortly 

 stalked ; fruit club-shaped, glabrous, apex very blunt, angles 

 broad, furrows narrow. — Wright Mem. 246 ; Choiay in DC. Prodr. 

 xiii. pt. 2, 450 ; Griseb. Fl. Br. W. Ind. 69 ; Heimerl in Engl. 

 Bot. Jahrh. xxi. 617 <k in Engl.-Pranil Nat. Pflzfam. Hi. pt. 1 h. 

 22 f. 7 B-D. ; Urh. Symb. Ant. iv. 224. Type in Herb. Linn. 

 (Fig. 50.) 



Broume 1 Wright ! Bancroft ! Macfadyen ! McNab ! Parnell I Spanish 

 Town, Prior I a weed, Hope, Harris ! Fl. Jam. 6777, 6799, 6807, 6863.— 

 Bermuda, Cayman, Bahamas, W. Indies, continental America. 



Plant ^-2 or 3 ft. high. Perianth, permanent base glabrous, 1 mm. 1., 

 limb about 2 mm. 1. and br. Anthocarjj 3-4 mm. 1. 



2. B. paniculata L.C. Bich. in Act. Soc. Hist. Nat. Par. t. 105 

 (1792) ; herbaceous; stem often decumbent at the base, glabrate 

 or often puberulous or pubescent, especially at the nodes, here 

 and there glutinous ; leaves elliptical to roundish, apex obtuse, 

 margin more or less ciliate, lighter-coloured beneath ; flowers 

 blood-red or purplish, sessile ; fruit, oblong-clavate, angles narrow, 

 with glandular hairs. — Choisy loc. cit. ; Oriseb. loc. cit. ; Schmidt 

 in Fl. Bras. xiv. pt. 2, 369, t. 86; Heimtrl in Engl. Bot. 

 Jahrb. xxi. 619; Urb. loc. cit. B. diffusa Sw. Obs. Bot. 10 

 (1791) (non L.) ; Wright Mem. 246. 



Shane Herb. iv. ante 26 1 Macfadyen ; Wilson ! Lane I Oersted ; 

 March\ Ball I a weed, Hope, 600 ft., Harris \ near Caskleton, 400 ft., 

 Thampsonl Fl. Jam. 6686, 6806, 7960.— Bahamas, West Indies, Central 

 and South America. 



Plant 1^-3 ft. high. Perianth, permanent base 1-1 '6 mm. 1., limb 

 about 1 mm. 1. and br. Anthocarp 4-6 mm. 1. 



