miiotropium. BORRAGINACEiK. 521 



2. HELIOTROPIUM, Tomn. HFLioTnoi>E. Turnsolk. 

 Calyx 5-partod. Corolla funnelforni or salverforni, imbricated and the sinusos 

 plaited in the bud. Stamens included : filaments mostly short or none : anthers 

 connivent and sometimes cohering by their usually acuminate or mucronatc tips. 

 •Style entire or none : stigma a fleshy ring or the edge of a peltate or umbrella- 

 shaped disk, which is surmounted by a conical, capitate, or subulate often 2-cleft 

 appendage (this obsolete in //. Citrmtnavicnm). Ovary 4-cellod, 4-ovu1(m1. Fruit 

 (h-y, often -l-lobod, sometimes 'J-lobed, splitliiig itit(» 4 oiio-seedod or RoiiuMimos into 

 2 two-aocdod nutlets. Embryo eitiior straight or curved, commonly surrounded by 

 some albumen. — Herbs or low shrubby plants, with the usually small flowers more 

 commonly spiked and bractless, sometimes accompanied by leafy bracts ; the so- 

 called " spikes " one-sided and coiled at the apex, straightening as the blossoms 

 open. — (Jray, Proc. Am. Acad. x. 49. 



A large ^niiiis, widely dispersed over tlio wanner paits of the world, representee! in tlie United 

 States liy ('idly a dozen speeics, oidy three of whicli occiu- in California, and two of these are of 

 great range. The Sweet Heliotrope of cultivation is Peruvian (//. Fcnmanum, Linn.). //. Lidi- 

 cum, Linn., the common representative of the section Tiaridium, Lchm., or Hcliopliytum, DC. 

 (by these and other authors regarded as a distinct genus), altliough a common weed of waste 

 grounds in warm-temperate and tropical countries, appears not to have run wild in California. The 

 two following are true Heliotropes, with fruit of 4 one-seeded nutlets, distinct stamens, flowers in 

 bractless spikes, &c. 



§ 1. Fruit i-lohed, Rpliitiwj into 4 one-seeded nutlets. — True IIrliotuopium. 



1. H. Curassavicum, Linn. A glabrous and somewhat glaucous succulent 

 herb, a span to a foot high, difTusely spreading : leaves oblanceolate, varying either 

 to linear or to obovate-oblong (an inch or two in length) : spikes mostly either in 

 pairs or twice forked, forming a kind of cyme : flowers crowded, pure white, rather 

 large for the genus : stigma sessile, umbrella-shaped, nearly flat-topped, as broad as 

 the glabrous ovary. 



Sands of the sea-shore, also in damp saline soil in the interior ; widely spread over the world. 

 Specimens froni Tejou {liothrock) apparently have blue flowers ! 



2. H. inundatum, Swartz. Annual, hoary with a fine approsscd pubescence, 

 a foot or two high : loaves spatulato-oblong or sometimes oblanceolate, tapering at 

 base into a slender petiole : spikes 2 to 4 in a cluster, filiform : flowers very small 

 and close : corolla only a line long, white : stigma sessile, thick, surmounted by a 

 short blunt cone. 



California, Coulter (probably on the Rio Colorado) : thence to Texas ; also West Indies, Tropical 

 America, &c. 



§ 2. Fruit 2-glohose, solid, each lobe or carpel splittinrf into 2 hemii^pherical one-seeded- 

 nutlets: corolla pretty large : style long : truncate cone of the stigma bearded 

 with a tuft of strong bristles. — Euploca, Gmy, {Fuploca, Nutt.) 



3. H. COnvolvulaceum, Cray. Annual, with diffuso or spreading branches 

 from the base (a span to a foot long), hoary or strigose-hispid : leaves oblong-lance- 

 olate or ovate, petioled : flowers scattered, short-pedicelled, generally opposite the 

 leaves, sweet-scented, opening towards evening : corolla white, with the upper part 

 of the hairy tube somewhat enlarged and the orifice narrowed, and a rotate scarcely 

 lobed but i)laitcd border : anthers with slightly cohering tips. — ISlem. Am. Acad, 

 vi. 403 ; Proc. Am. Acad. v. 340, x. 50. Fvploca convolvulacea, Nutt. in Trans. 

 Am. Phil. Soc. n. ser. v, 189; Torr. in Marcy, Rep. t. 15. 



In white sand near "Soda Lake," Dr. Cooper. Otherwise known only east of the Rocky 

 Monntains, nii sjindy plains, from NebrnekR to Tpxns. 



