LXXVII. NYCTAGrINACEiE 
409 
LXXVII. NYCTAGINACE^ 
Perennial herbs. Leaves opposite, simple, entire or sinuate ; 
stipules none. Flowers small or minute, in Oxybaphus enclosed 
by a bell-shaped involucre, 2-sexual, regular, solitary or in small 
heads at the end of axillary stalks, usually forming loose, terminal 
panicles. Perianth hypogynous, pink or red, tubular, contracted 
above the ovary ; limb spreading, falling off after flowering ; tube 
persistent. Stamens 2-4, hypogynous. Ovary free, 1 -celled ; 
style simple, stigma small, terminal ; ovule solitary. Fruit con- 
sisting of the hardened perianth-tube adherent to an indehiscent, 
membranous, 1 -seeded utricle. — Name derived from the Greek 
nux, night, the flowers of some species open in the evening and 
fall off at sunrise. — Chiefly tropical America. 
The Marvel of Peru, Mirabilis Jalapa, is a common escape from gardens ; 
it bears a profusion of red, white, yellow or variegated flowers, scarcely differing 
in structure from Boerhaavia. 
Flowers solitary, each enclosed by a bell-shaped involucre . 1. Oxybaphus . 
Flowers in small heads. Involucre none . . . .2. Boerhaavia. 
1. OXYBAPHUS. From the Greek oxybaphon, a saucer ; 
referring to the involucre. — America ; and this one Himalayan 
species. 
