FOUR-O'CLOCK FAMILY. Nyctaginaceae. 



Yellow Sand- Pretty at a distance, but rather coar& 



Verbena close by, a straggling plant, with long 



Abrbnia latifdlia thick, rubbery stems, lying on the ground 



thickish leaves, and small yellow flowers 

 Spring, summer, , 1 , . 



autumn slightly fragrant and forming prett; 



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

 Cal. with five bracts. This is common alonj 



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 unequa 

 stamens, usually three, on the receptacle. The peculiai 

 five-lobed involucre, which becomes large and paper 

 after flowering, contains from three to five flowers. Th 

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

 probably suggested the common name Umbrella-wort. 

 Narrow-leaved A pretty plant, one to four feet tall 



Umbrella-wort w ^h a slender stem and long, narrow 

 Allionia linear is bluish-green leaves, with somewhat wav? 

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

 Summer flowers are fragile and pretty, of variou 



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

 glories, half an inch across, the stamen 

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

 cluster, in a purple and green involucre. This involucr 

 is curious, for before the flowers come out it is close< 

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

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

 other little buds inside it. When the flowers bloom an< 

 drop, which they do very soon, this involucre unfolds an< 

 expands until it becomes an exceedingly thin, papery 

 five-lobed disk, three-quarters of an inch across, veine< 

 with purple, very pretty and delicate, looking like an od< 

 little flower without a heart. The smooth stem fork 

 towards the top and the branches, which are slightly hairy 

 bear numerous clusters of involucres with flowers insid 

 them. This grows in dry soil, is widely distributed an< 

 found as far' east as Illinois. 



106 



