THE JOURNAL 



OF 



THE LINNEAN SOCIETY 



Notes on Papayacese. By Joaquim Corbea de Mello and 

 EiCHAED Sphuce. Communicated "by Daniel Hat^buey, 



F.L.S. 



(Plate I.) 

 [Kead February 7, 1867.] 



The principal object of tliis paper is to put on record certain 

 obseryationa made by Senhor Mello on living plants of the com- 

 mon Papaw, and of the prickly-stemmed species known in South 

 Brazil as Jaracatid^ comprising some important additions to our 

 knowledge of a tribe which, from the unwieldy size of the foliage 

 and the succulent, perishable nature of the fruits, cannot be ade- 



# 



quately represented in our herbaria 



Living specimens of one or two species in our conservatories 

 have rendered us familiar with the aspect of the Papayacese. 

 They may be shortly described as erect-growing Gourds^ the 

 twining stem of the latter being what chiefly distinguishes them ; 

 and there is considerable affinity to Passion-flowers, not only 

 in structure, but in the occasional presence in Passion-flowers 

 of a milky juice, which is never wanting to the Papaws. 



The essential characters of Papayacese are chiefly the follow- 

 ing (those included in brackets having been added or amended 

 from the observations of Senhor Mello) : 



TreeSy usually of humble growth and of brief existence, with a 

 turbid milky juice like that of Fumitories. Trunk erect, from 

 4 to 40 feet high, in some species scarcely thicker than the 

 finger, in others as thick as a man's body, ringed with the leaf- 

 scars ; 'bar'k very thin, greenish, sometimes aculeate ; wood a mere 



* Senhor Mello's observations were cominvmicated in a letter to Mr, Han- 

 bury, and were accompanied by illustrative specimens and drawings. 



LIN^ir. PROC. — BOTANT 



B 



