NYCTAGINACEAE - 4'O'Clock Family
Herbs, shrubs or trees
Leaves opposite, simple, entire
Flowers bisexual,hypognyous, in cymose inflorescences, subtended by
large and consipiuous involucre which can be mistaken for the calyx,
calyx corolla-like, corolla absent
30 genera, 300 species
Economic uses - ornamentals such as Mirabilis
and Bougainvillea
Medicinal uses - roots used to make tea for burns, fever, and
worms and poultice for external wounds. Plants used medicinally are
also considered poisonous.
Some members of Mirabilis have a reduced inflorescence of
1 flower
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