Oxybaphus
(from oxybaphon, a vinegar saucer, or small shallow vessel; in allusion to the shape of the involucre). Umbrella Wort. SYNS. Calymenia, Calyxhymenia, Vitmania. ORD. Nyctagineae. A genus comprising about a score species of greenhouse or hardy, annual or perennial, erect or prostrate herbs, mostly natives of Western America, a few being indigenous to the Eastern States of North America, and one Himalayan. Flowers white, pink, or scarlet; involucre one to five-flowered; perianth campanulate or funnel-shaped. Fruit small. Leaves opposite, sessile or petiolate. The species are of no great value for horticultural purposes. Those described below thrive in a sandy-loam soil. Propagated by seeds, sown in the open border in May, or on a mild hotbed in March; or by divisions in spring.
O. Cervantesii (Cervantes'). fl. bright pink, panicled; peduncles and involucres villously viscous. Summer and autumn. l. opposite, long-stalked, cordate, obtuse, entire, slightly pubescent; margins ciliated with short hairs. h. 1 1/2ft. Mexico, 1823. Half-hardy perennial. (S. B. F. G. 84.) O. viscosus (clammy). fl. pink, racemose. June to October. l. cordate-orbiculate, acute, tomentose. h. 2ft. Peru, 1793. Hardy annual. When the seeds are ripe, the calyx turns brown, expands, and is suspended over them like a little umbrella. (B. M. 434.)