Nyctaginaceae

Nyctaginaceae Juss., Gen. Pl. 90. 1789. nom. cons. 'Four O'Clock Family'

Characteristic Features:

Herbs, shrubs or trees, with swollen nodes, vascular bundles in concentric rings
Leaves estipulate, opposite, sometimes unequal
Flowers bisexual, conspicuously bracteates, bract often enlarged and petaloid
Perianth uniseriate, stamens 5
Ovary with nectariferous disc, unicarpellate, uniovulate, ovule basal, campylotropous
Fruit an achene or nut, with a persistent, accrescent calyx forming an anthocarp

Diversity:

World- 34 genera 450 species (The Plant List 2013); 31 genera, 400 species (Christenhusz & Byng 2016); 27 genera, 390 species (Mabberely 2017); 31 genera, 441 species (Roskov et al. 2021)
India - 4 genera 15 species (Karthikeyan 2000); 6 genera, 14 species (BSI, 2021)
Indian Himalaya- 4 genera, 8 species (Singh et al. 2019)
Uttarakhand - 3 genera 6 species (Uniyal et al. 2007)

General Characters:

Nyctaginaceae in Watson & Dallwitz (1992 onwards)
Nyctaginaceae in Stevens (2001 onwards)
Nyctaginaceae in POWO 2021 (Plants of the World Online)
Nyctaginaceae in Wikipedia

Systematic Position of the Family in Different Systems of Classifications:

Systematic position in 2-Superkingdom, 7-Kingdom classification of Ruggiero et al. (2015)

Super Kingdom- Eukaryota, Kingdom- Plantae, Subkingdom- Viridiplantae, Infrakingdom- Streptophyta, Superphylum- Embryophyta, Phylum- Tracheophyta, Subphylum- Spermatophytina, Superclass- Angiospermae, Class- Magnoliopsida, Superorder- Caryophyllanae, Order- Caryophyllales

Bentham & Hooker (1862-83)

Class : Dicotyledons
Subclass : Monochlamydeae
Series : Curvembryeae

Engler & Prantl (1887-1915)

Kingdom : Plantae
Division : Embryophyta Siphonogama
Subdivision: Angiospermae
Class : Dicotyledoneae
Subclass : Archichlamydeae
Order : Centrospermae

Hutchinson (1973)

Phylum : Angiospermae
Subphylum: Dicotyledones
Division : Herbaceae
Order : Chenopodiales

Cronquist (1988)

Division : Magnoliophyta
Class : Magnoliopsida
Subclass : Caryophyllidae
Order : Caryophyllales

Thorne & Reveal (2007)

Class : Magnoliopsida
Subclass : Caryophyllidae
Super Order: Caryophyllanae
Order : Caryophyllales

Takhtajan (2009)

Phylum : Magnoliophyta
Class : Magnoliopsida
Subclass : Caryophyllidae
Super Order: Caryophyllanae
Order : Caryophyllales

Reveal (2012)

Class : Equisetopsida
Subclass : Magnoliidae
Super Order: Caryophyllanae
Order : Caryophyllales
Suborder : Nyctaginineae

APG-IV (2016)

Clade : Angiosperms
Clade : Eudicots
Clade : Core Eudicots
Clade : Superasterids
Order : Caryophyllales

Shipunov (2020)

Class : Angiospermae
Subclass : Asteridae
Super Order: Caryophyllanae
Order : Caryophyllales
Suborder : Caryophyllineae

Genera & Species in Pantnagar

To see larger images please click on the names

~Wild Flora~

Boerhavia diffusa L.

Mirabilis jalapa L.

Cultivated Flora

Bougainvillea glabra Choisy

Vernacular name: Bougainvillea, Lesser Bougainvillea (English); Booganbel (Hindi)

Nativity: East and South Brazil (POWO, 2019)

Common Characteristics: Evergreen vine-like shrubs with straight or slightly curved spines. Leaves simple, alternate. Flower in simple cymes, tubular, subtended by colourful bract.

Flowering period: Throughout the year

Propagation Methods: Propagated by stem cuttings and air layering (Dave’s Garden)

Photographed @ CBSH

Bougainvillea spectabilis Willd.

Vernacular name: Greater bougainvillea

Nativity: Brazil (POWO, 2019)

Common Characteristics: Evergreen shrubs or woody vines. Leaves simple, pubescent, spine curved. Flowers in simple axillary cymes, tubular, subtended by colourful bract, smaller than bract, bract elliptic- ovate, with obtuse margin.