=NYCTAGINACEÆ.= 142 =Boerhaavia elegans= _Choisy._ Tall branched herb. Leaves opposite, petioled, broadly ovate, 1½ in. long, whitish beneath. Flowers in lax, terminal, slender panicles, usually solitary, rarely 2-3-nate on the rachis; perianth tube cylindric, lower part persistent 5-angled, viscid ⅙ in. long, enclosing the fruit, upper part petaloid, shortly 5-lobed; stamens 2, exserted, connate at base. Coast of Nubia. =B. adscendens= _Willd._ Glabrous herb 2-3 ft. high. Leaves opposite, ovate-oblong or rotundate, up to 2 in. long, pet. 1 in. Panicles terminal, 9 in. long. Flowers umbelled, 4-9 at ends of panicle; perianth minute; fr. under ⅛ in. long. Fung Prov. (Fazoghli); Sobat. =B. repens= _Linn._ RIGLA (Meshra El Zeraf)—Arab; TEB (Meshra El Zeraf)—Dinka. Glabrous creeping or scrambling herb. Leaves in unequal pairs at the nodes, ovate or lanceolate, ab. 1 in. long. Peduncles axillary bearing 4-10 flowered umbels; per. minute, 5-ribbed, glandular between the ribs; lobes pinkish; fr. minute; stamens 1-3. Red Sea Prov. (between Suakin & Berber: Wadi Abu Salem, Suakin, Erkowit, El Galabeheb & Khor Ashat); Kassala Prov. (Gallabat); Kordofan Prov. (Abu Gerad & Bara); Fung Prov. (Jongol’s Post); Darfur Prov. (Kulme); Upper White Nile Prov. (Meshra El Zeraf). =var. diffusa= _Hook. f._ TERBA (N. Kordn.), LADUA (White Nile) & MUDDEYD (Egypt)—Arab. More pubescent. Leaves ovate or ovate-rotundate; fr.-perianth less glandular. Wadi Halfa; Khartoum Prov. (J. Royan); Blue Nile Prov.; Fung. Prov. (Fazoghli); White Nile Prov. (J. Arashkol); Kordofan Prov. (El Obeid, Abu Haraza, Bara); Darfur Prov.; Kassala Prov. (Gallabat: Matamma). The plant is eaten by the Sontals in India as a pot-herb. The root is used in infusion, or given in powder, and has laxative, diuretic and cooling properties. It has been prescribed for asthma with success. Taken in large doses it acts as an emetic. The plant is much used, in external applications, for dropsical swellings. =var. viscosa= _Choisy._ More robust than type; stems and leaves densely glandular, hairy. Leaves ovate or subrotundate, sinuate, up to 1¼ in. long. Red Sea Prov. (Erkowit, Soturba & 21° L.N.); Kordofan Prov. =B. verticillata= _Poir._ SHINEMAQ (Blue Nile)—Arab. Tall, much-branched, glabrous herb. Leaves broadly ovate, 2 in. long. Panicles of 3-5 flowered whorls and terminal umbels; per. minute, stalked glands at base; stamens 2. Red Sea Prov. (Soturba; Sea-coast about 21° L.N., Wadi Surrawib; Wadi El Omari; Sinkat); Fung Prov. (Singa); White Nile Prov. (J. Arashkol); Kordofan Prov. (Bir Sodari). =B. plumbaginea= _Cav._ ABU LEBBEN—Arab. Scrambling or procumbent herb. Leaves broadly ovate, petioled. Flowers arranged as above; per. white or lilac up to ⅓ in. long in upper part, funnel-shaped, lower ⅓ in. long in fr. with 10 large glandular disks near apex.