678 



BOTANY 



PART II 



means of tendrils ; the cordate or palmately lobed leaves bear coarse hairs. 

 Flowers diclinous ; moncEcious or less commonly dioBcious. Calyx and corolla 

 adherent below. Anthers united in pairs or all coherent, CO-shaped. Ovary 

 trilocular. Fruit a berry, with a firm rind and six large, succulent, parietal 

 placentas. 



IMPORTANT GENERA. Cucumis sativus, the Cucumber, and C. Melo, the Melon, 

 are commonly cultivated. Tendrils un- 

 branched ; the tendril corresponds to a bract 

 and arises nearer to the apex of the shoot 

 than the leaf nearly opposite to which it 

 stands. The female flowers are solitary, 

 the male are grouped in small inflorescences, 

 in the axils of the leaves. As has been 

 shown by NOLL, fertilisation is not a neces- 

 sary preliminary to the development of the 

 fruit of the Cucumber. Cucurbita pepo, the 

 Pumpkin, has branched tendrils, which re- 

 present axillary shoots of the simple tend- 

 rils. Each branch of the tendril corresponds 

 to a leaf of the shoot, and may sometimes 

 subtend an axillary bud. Both male and 

 female flowers are solitary in the leaf-axils. 

 Bryonia, the Bryony, is British (Fig. 764) ; 

 it is poisonous and has thick, swollen, 

 fleshy roots, long unbranched tendrils, and 

 axillary inflorescences ( lla ). Citrullus Colo- 

 cynthis is a perennial plant inhabiting the 

 Asiatic and African deserts north of the 



FIG. 763. A'c6aijim(Cucurbitaceae). Diagram of 

 a male (A) and of a female flower (). (After 

 EICHLER.) 



FK;. 764. Bryonia dioica. A, Y\o\\> i in..: 

 branch (reduced); B, female, C, male 

 flower (nat. size); D, androecium (niaxiii- 

 fled); E, fruits; t\ fruit in section. 



Ponoiroot. 



equator. Leaves deeply three lobed and pinnately divided. Tendrils simple or 

 forked ; male and female flowers solitary in the axils of the leaves. The fruit 

 is a dry berry (Fig. 765). 



OFFICIAL. Citrullus colocynthis yields COLOCYNTHIDIS PULPA. ELATKKU M 

 from Ecballium elaterium. 



