NYCTAGINACEAE. 129 



cm. long; bracts ovate-orbicular, about one-half as long as the sepals; sepals 

 about 1 mm. long, those of pistillate flowers copiously woolly at the base; 

 utricle shorter than the sepals; seed red-brown, shining, 0.5 mm. long. 



Maritime rocks and pine-lands, throughout the archipelago from Abaco, Great 

 Bahama and Great Sturrup southward to Andros, Great Ragged Cay, Acklin's 

 Island and Watling's Island : Florida : Cuba ; Colombia. Referred by Mrs. North- 

 rop and by Coker to /. paniculata; by Hitchcock to /. celosioides, COASTAL, IRESINE. 



3. Iresine inaguensis Millsp. Field Mus. Bot. 2: 149. 1906. 



Perennial by a woody root; stems several, erect, rather stout, 3-9 dm. high, 

 glabrous, little branched, the branches erect. Leaves many, linear, 6 cm. long 

 or less, 1-2.5 mm. wide, obtuse, glabrous, nearly sessile, sometimes with fas- 

 cicles of smaller ones in their axils; panicles narrow, 7-14 cm. long, dense, 

 glabrous; spikes densely flowered, 3-12 mm. long; bracts ovate-orbicular, 

 about one-third as long as the sepals; sepals oblong, about 1 mm. long, obtuse, 

 those of the pistillate flowers bearing long hairs at the base; utricle a little 

 shorter than the sepals; seed red, shining, 0.5 mm. long. 



Sandj and rocky soil, Castle Island, Atwood Cay, Sheep Cay and Inagua : 

 Endemic. BAHAMA IRBSINE. 



Family 3. NYCTAGINACEAE Lindl. 

 FOUR-O'CLOCK FAMILY. 



Herbs, some tropical genera trees or shrubs, with simple entire leaves, 

 and regular flowers in clusters, in many of the genera subtended by in- 

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

 lobed or 4-5-toothed. Stamens hypogynons; 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. 



Herbs ; flowers perfect. 



Perianth large, tubular-funnelform. 1. Hirabilis. 



Perianth small, campanulate or funnelform. 



Fruit 5-angled or 5-ribbed. 2. Boerhaavea. 



Fruit 10-ribbed. 3. Commicarpus. 



Trees, shrubs or woody vines ; flowers dioecious. 



Fruit drupe-like, fleshy. 4. TorruMa. 



Fruit dry, with 5 rows of glands. 5. Pisonia. 



1. MERABILIS L. Sp. PI. 177. 1753. 



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. Sp. PI. 177. 1753. 



Foliage deep green, glabrous or slightly pubescent. Stem erect, 3-7 dm. 

 tall, much branched; leaves ovate, acuminate, sometimes sparingly ciliate, 



