120 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 



THE COSTA RICAN SPECIES OF CYCL ANTHER A AND SOME RELATED 



PLANTS. 



The species of the genus Cyclanthera, and to a less extent those of 

 the other genera considered here, are of interest to the economic 

 botanist because the fruits, and sometimes the tender shoots, of sev- 

 eral of them have been from the remotest time among the natives of 

 Middle America and of Western South America favorite vegetables, 

 and have been readily adopted by the Spanish- American race. 



CYCLANTHERA. 



The edible fruits of Cyclanthera are called caihuas or caigues in 

 Peru and Bolivia, achocchas in Ecuador, and achuchas in Western 

 Colombia, all of which names are of Kitsua origin. In Costa Rica, 

 the first term has become caifa, and in Guatemala caiba; and, as one 

 of the species from which the edible fruits are derived extends as far 

 north as Mexico, it is likely that they are used all over the area for 

 the same purpose and have correspondingly received some native 

 names. In a few instances, not only the fruits but also, as indicated 

 above, the tender shoots, play a part in the native culinary art, in 

 Costa Rica, such shoots being known as quelites, a general term de- 

 rived from the Nahuatl guelitl, meaning "sprout" or "shoot." 



The sources of the caifas or achuchas, as far as known, are Cyclan- 

 thera pedata and C. tenuisepala (fig. 26) in South America, C. pedata 

 (pi. 13) and perhaps also C. tonduzii in Costa Rica, and in Guate- 

 mala 0. multifoliata, the fruits and shoots of which Mr. O. F. Cook 

 found in use at Purulha. These four species are true Cyclantherae, 

 characterized by the peculiar discoid structure of the single anther. 

 Cyclanthera pedata, the generic type, is a very variable plant, and it is 

 questionable whether C. tenuisepala is not the same species or at the 

 most a subspecies, growing under special conditions, namely, in a 

 wet climate or in shady places with rich soil, as can be inferred from 

 the leanness, size, and delicacy of the specimens at hand. According 

 to the author's description, the main distinctive characteristics are 

 in the thread-like calyx teeth of the male flower, longer than the 

 corolla, and in the very small fruit. But it is found that the length 

 of those teeth is variable in the three nearest related species of the 

 group, and besides, it is very doubtful whether Mr. Cogniaux had a 

 fully grown fruit at his disposal on which to found his description. 

 The plant from which specimens were collected by Miguel Bang at 

 Cochabamba (Plantse boliviano no. 1260), the flower of which is 

 here reproduced (fig. 26), is said to have been under cultivation, 

 evidently for its fruits. Of these there is only one immature and 

 smooth specimen, and that is over 2 cm. long and 9 mm. broad, that 

 is to say, larger than the mature fruit should be according to the 

 dimensions given in the original description. But again, the leaves 

 of our specimens have mostly long petioles and large leaflets that 



