^6 Introduction to Botany. 



NYCTAGINACE^. Four-o'clock Family. 



Herbs outside the tropics. Leaves simple and entire. Flowers per- 

 fect ; calyx corollalike and inferior. Ovary i-celled and i-ovuled. 

 Calyx persisting in fruit and forming a nutlike pericarp. Stems swollen 

 at the joints ; an involucre below the flowers. 



I. OXYBAPHUS. 



(Gr., oxybaphon, a vinegar saucer, from the shape of the involucre.) 



Herbs with thick perennial roots and opposite leaves. Flowers in 

 clusters of 3-5 above a 5-lobed involucre which enlarges and becomes 

 membranous in the fruit. Stamens 3-5, mostly 3. Style filiform. 



i. Oxybaphus nyctagineus, Sweet. (Gr. nyx, night; L. ending agm-^ 

 Heart-leaved Umbrella-wort. Stems usually slender and angled or 

 4-sided, from i to 3 feet tall. Leaves ovate, acuminate at the apex and cordate to 

 truncate at the base; all but the uppermost ones with petioles. Perianth red; 

 stamens and style exserted; involucre shorter than the flowers. Fruit oblong 

 and very pubescent. In dry soil. 



PORT0LACACE.a;. Purslane Family. 



Usually succulent herbs. Sepals mostly 2, seldom 5 ; petals 4 or 5. 

 Stamens usually of the same number as the petals, sometimes more 

 numerous. Ovary superior, i -celled, style 2-8-cleft or divided; ovules 

 2 or many. Capsules opening by 3 valves, or circumscissile. 



I. CLAYTONIA. 



(Named from Dr. John Clayton, early botanist.) 



Perennial herbs with simple stems rising from a bulb, and bearing a 

 pair of opposite leaves. Stamens 5, adhering to the base of the petals. 

 Pod 3-valved and 3-6-seeded. Flowers in a loose raceme in early 

 spring ; petals rose color, with veins of a darker color. 



1. Claytonia Virginica, L. String Beauty. Leaves 3 to 7 inches long, 

 linear-lanceolate. In moist open woods. 



2. Claytonia Caroliniana, Michx. Carolina Spring Beauty. Leaves i to 2 

 inches long, ovate-lanceolate or spatulate oblong. 



