FOUR-O'CLOCK FAMILY. Nyctaglnaccae. 



bellow Sand- Pretty at a distance, but rather coarse 



Verbena close by, a straggling plant, with long, 



Abrdnia latifdlia thick, rubbery stems, lying on the ground, 



Yellow thickish leaves, and small yellow flowers, 



Spring, summer, ,..-., - j r 



autumn slightly fragrant and forming pretty 



Wash., Oreg., clusters about an inch and a half across, 

 Cal. with five bracts. This is common along 



the seashore, blooming more or less all through the year. 

 It has a long, thick root, which is eaten by the Indians. 



There are a good many kinds of Allionia, one Asiatic, 

 the rest American. The bell-shaped flowers have unequal 

 stamens, usually three, on the receptacle. The peculiar, 

 five-lobed involucre, which becomes large and papery 

 after flowering, contains from three to five flowers. The 

 fruit is ribbed and often hairy. The shape of the involucre 

 probably suggested the common name Umbrella-wort. 



A pretty plant, one to four feet tall, 

 Narrow-leaved 



Umbrella-wort Wlth a slender stem and long, narrow, 

 Allionia line&ris bluish-green leaves, with somewhat wavy 

 Purple, pink, margins, and almost no leaf-stalks. The 

 : flowers are fragile and pretty, of various 



Utah, Ariz., etc. shades of pink, the shape of small Morning- 

 glories, half an inch across, the stamens 

 and style protruding. There are from three to five in a 

 cluster, in a purple and green involucre. This involucre 

 is curious, for before the flowers come out it is closed 

 around a bunch of buds, looking as if it were itself a pretty 

 five-angled bud, and one would not suspect that there were 

 other little buds inside it. When the flowers bloom and 

 drop, which they do very soon, this involucre unfolds and 

 expands until it becomes an exceedingly thin, papery, 

 five-lobed disk, three-quarters of an inch across, veined 

 with purple, very pretty and delicate, looking like an odd 

 little flower without a heart. The smooth stem forks 

 towards the top and the branches, which are slightly hairy, 

 bear numerous clusters of involucres with flowers inside 

 them. This grows in dry soil, is widely distributed and 

 Sound as far east as Illinois. 



106 



