Jlora 0f the Upper 



anb of tht abjacent 



xtb-f)imabigan 



LXXXIX. NYCTAOINACEJE. 



Herbs, shrubs or trees. Leaves usually opposite, entire, ex 

 stipulate. Flowers 2-(rarely 1-) sexual, regular, sometimes dimor- 

 phous ; inflorescence various ; bracts often forming an involucre, 

 free or connate. Perianth small, monophyllous, usually petaloid, 

 the tube persistent, enveloping the fruit ; limb 3-5-lobed, persistent 

 or deciduous, lobes plicate in bud. Stamens 1-30, hypogynous, 

 sometimes unilateral ; filaments usually unequal, inflexed in bud ; 

 anthers included or exserted, dorsifixed, didymous. Ovary free, 

 1 -celled ; style filiform, involute in bud, stigma simple or multifid ; 

 ovule solitary, basal, erect. Fruit membranous, indehiscent, en- 

 closed in the hardened perianth-tube. Seed erect, testa adherent, 

 albumen soft or floury, embryo curved or straight and with folded 

 cotyledons, radicle inferior. Species about 220, chiefly in Trop. 

 America. 



i 



BOERHAAVIA, Linn. ; Fl. Brit. Ind. iv, 708. 



Erect or diffuse herbs, often with divaricate branches. Leaves 

 opposite, often unequally paired. Flowers small, arranged in 

 panicles umbels or heads, pedicels jointed ; bracteoles minute, 

 often deciduous, rarely whorled and involucrate. Perianth-tube 



5939 



