TAXONOMY- characters of Nyctaginaceae

This family plant commonly denoted four 'o' clock plant

1. Vimal priya subramanian 2 nd msc botany 18mbo027 PSGR.KRISHNAMMAL COLLEGE FOR WOMEN Taxonomy Nyctaginaceae

2. Characters of Nyctaginaceae : Flowers open in late afternoon; flowers mostly actinomorphic , usually s ubtended by an involucre of separate or united brightly c oloured bracts or sepaloid bracts that a re often mistaken for sepals; petaloid p erianth , tepals 5 ; stamens 1- ∝; carpel one.

3. Distribution of Nyctaginaceae Nyctaginaceae or Four O’clock family includes 30 genera and 300 species according to Rendle . It is widely distributed in tropical and temperate America and warmer parts of the world. They are called four o’clock because of the fact that flowers in certain members of the group (Mirabilis) open in greatest numbers in late afternoon.

4. COMMON PLANTS OF THE FAMILY Common plants of the family: 1. Mirabilis jalapa – Four O’clock plant H. Gul -e-bas – ornamental plant. 2. Boerhaavia diffusa – Common weed after rainy season, medicinal. 3. Bougainvillea glabra , B. spectabilis ornamental with magneta bract. 4. Oxybaphus – Greek oxybaphus – a saucer. 5. Pisonia aculeata – a large climber, armed with recurved axillary spines.

5. Vegetative characters Habit: Herb, shrub or scandent or trees. Root: Tap root, branched . Stem: Herbaceous or woo dy, erect or even climbing e.g. Bougainvillea . Leaf: Alternate or opposite, simple, those of each pair being often very unequal, exstipulate .

6. Pisonia alba

7. B. Floral characters Inflorescence : Cymose , biparous with a tendency to monochasial development in the higher branches. Flower: Perfect or diclinous as in Pisonia by suppression of stamens or pistil, hypogynous , actinomorphic , rarely zygomorphic in Anisomeris usually subtended by an involucre of 3 to 5 separate or united brightly coloured bracts that are often mistaken for sepals. In Mirabilis, each flower is surrounded at the base by an involucre of five sepal-like bracts; in Bougainvillea, there are three involucral bracts each subtending a flower, in Boerhaavia and others, the involucral leaves are reduced to teeth or scales.

8. Pisonia flower

9. Mirabilis jalapa

10. perianth Tepals 4-5, gamophyllous , tubular with wide spreading lobes, often petaloid ( infundibuliform ) imbricate or twisted, contorted, connate in a funnel shaped or tubular perigone , the base of which persists and enclosing the fruit forming the so called anthrocarp .

11. Boerhavia difusa A-Habit B-flower C- Anthrocarp

12. Androecium : Stamens variable 2 to 20, free, usually 5 to 8 or equal to number of petals but there may be fewer or more; filaments of unequal lengths. Gynoecium : One carpel, superior, unilocular with a single basal ovule; style long, simple.

13. Fruit : Dry, one-seeded anthocarp ( achene surrounded by persistent perianth lobes) indehiscent. Seed: Small, non-endospermic. Pollination: Entomophilous .

14. Mirabilis jalapa

15. Herbarium of Boerhavia diffusa

16. Herbarium of Bougainvillea glabra

17. Economic Importance of Nyctaginaceae 1. Medicinal: Boerhaavia diffusa’s root is laxative and also used in asthma, anemia , jaundice. It is an antidote to snake venom, B. repens is diuretic. The roots of Mirabilis jalapa are purgative. The leaves lessen inflammation and are applied to boils. 2. Ornamental: Mirabilis jalapa , Bougainvillea, Abronia . Pisonia aculeata is a hedge plant.

18. Affinities of nyctanginaceae The family is closely allied to Polygonaceae . Bentham and Hooker placed it together with Amaranthaceae , Chenopodiaceae . Nyctaginaceae can be distinguished from Polygonaceae by the nature of its fruit enclosed in the persistent base of the perianth .

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