NYCTAGINACEAE. 



123 



volucres. Petals none. Calyx inferior, usually corolla-like, its limb 4-5- 

 lobed or 4-5-toothed. Stamens hypogynous; filaments filiform; anthers 

 2-celled, dehiscent by lateral slits. Ovary enclosed by the tube of the 

 perianth, 1-celled, 1-ovuled; ovule campylotropous; stigma capitate. Fruit 

 a ribbed, grooved or winged anthocarp. About 25 genera and 350 species, 

 of wide geographic distribution, most abundant in America, 



Involucre large, calyx-like, its bracts united. 

 Involucre none ; flowers very small, panicled 



1. Mirahilis. 



2. Boerhaavca, 



1. MIRABIIilS L. 



Perennial herbs, with large tuberous-thickened roots and forking stems. 

 Leaves opposite, somewhat fleshy, petioled, or the upper sessile. Flower 

 solitary or many flowers together in a 5-lobed calyx-like involucre. Calyx 

 colored, its tube elongated, constricted above the ovary, its limb expanding, 

 deciduous. Stamens 5 or 6, unequal; filaments filiform, slender, incurved, 

 united into a fleshy cup at the base. Style filiform. Fruit ribbed. Seed 

 filling the pericarp, to which the testa adheres; endosperm mealy. [Latin, 

 beautiful.] Twenty or more American species, the following typical. 



1. Mirabilis Jalapa L. Four- 

 o 'clock. Marvel of Peru. (Fig. 

 142.) Foliage deep green, gla- 

 brous or slightly pubescent. Stem 

 erect, l°-3° tall, much branched; 

 leaves ovate, acuminate, sometimes 

 sparingly ciliate, entire, truncate 

 or cordate at the base, the petioles 

 about i as long as the blades; in- 

 volucres campanulate, 3"-4" high, 

 pubescent, 1-flowered, their lobes 

 ovate-lanceolate, twice as long as 

 the tube, acute, bristle-tipped; 

 calyx salverform, li'-2' long, 

 deep red to purple or white, often 

 more or less blotched, the edge 

 lobed; stamens exserted; fruit 

 ovoid; black, 4"-5" long, wrinkled- 

 tuberculate, 5-ribbed. [M. dicho- 

 tonia L.; M. longiflora of Jones.] 



Waste grounds and woodlands. 

 Escaped from cultivation and nat- 

 uralized. Native of tropical America. 

 Flowers from spring to autumn. 

 Much grown in gardens. 



2. BOEEHAAVEA L. 



Slender herbs with forking stems and branches, opposite leaves, and 

 small panicled minutely bracted flowers on jointed pedicels. Calyx campanulate 



