CUCURBIT ACEAE 1135 



rarely dioecious, the staminate usually in racemes or corymbs. Sepals 5. Corolla white or 

 yellow, with 5 lobes. Stamens 3, or rarely 5 : anthers more or less connate. Pistillate 

 flowers solitary, often slender-pedicelled, with a calyx which is narrowed below, spreading 

 above, an early withering corolla, rudimentary stamens and globose or elongated ovary 

 with a short style, inserted in a disk. Ovules numerous, horizontal. Berry small, pendu- 

 lous, mostly many-seeded. Seeds flattened, with a leathery testa. Creeping Cucujibek. 



Berries globose or nearly so. 



Berries less than 10 mm. in diameter. 1. M. microcnrpa. 



Berries over 10 mm. in diameter. 2. M. Nm^hii. 



Berries oblong or oval. 



Stems trailing or creeping: leaf-blades broader than long, the lobes low and rounded. 3. ^1/. crassifolia. 

 Stems climbing : leaf-blades longer than broad, the lobes angular. 



Berries dark purple or blackish : seeds 3-4 mm. long. 4. it/, pendula. 



Berries yellow : seeds 5-6 mm. long. 5. M. chlorocavpa. 



1. Melothria microcdrpa (Cogn. ) Shuttlw. Stems climbing, 5-15 dm. long, branched : 

 leaf-blades commonly as broad as long, thinnish, shallowly 3-5-lobed, 1-3 cm. long, cordate, 

 the lobes irregularly toothed ; petioles hispidulous, shorter than the blades : berries glo- 

 bose, 7-9 mm. in diameter. 



In thickets, northern Alabama. Spring and summer. 



2. Melothria Ndshii Small. Stems trailing and creeping, 3-12 dm. long, branched, 

 angled : leaf-blades fleshy, suborbicular or triangular-ovate in outline, 2-3.5 cm. broad, 

 usually 5-lobed, very rough on the surfaces, the lobes entire or with 1-2 teeth or small 

 lobes ; petioles hispid, about as long as the blades : staminate flowers in long-peduncled 

 corymbs, the pistillate on solitary long peduncles : hypanthium minutely hispid : sepals 

 triangular, acute, shorter than the hypanthium : corolla-lobes longer and narrower than 

 the sepals : anthers pubescent at the tip, nearly sessile : berries globose, 12-15 mm. in 

 diameter, their peduncles about 3 cm. long. 



In sandy soil, peninsular Florida. 



3. Melothria crassifolia Small. Stems trailing and creeping, 6-15 dm. long, 

 branched throughout, angled, sparingly pubescent : leaf-blades thick and fleshy, reniform 

 or orbicular-reniform, 2-4 cm. broad, usually with 5 rounded obtuse lobes, which are un- 

 dulate or shallowly toothed, cordate, the sinus closed or nearly closed ; petioles jiispid, 

 about as long as the blades : staminate flowers in long-peduncled racemes, the pistillate 

 solitary on long peduncles : hypanthium minutely hispid : sepals triangular-ovate, much 

 shorter than the hypanthium, acute : anthers glabrous, nearly sessile : berries oblong, 

 1.5-2 cm. long. 



In moist places, peninsular Florida. 



4. Melothria p6ndula L. Stems climbing, nearly glabrous : leaf-blades thin, dry- 

 ing membranous, suborbicular or ovate in outline, 3-8 cm. broad, with 3-5 angular shal- 

 lowly toothed lobes and both surfaces pubescent with short hairs, cordate, the sinuses open ; 

 petioles 1-3.5 cm. long, hispid : staminate flowers racemed : pistillate flowers solitary, the 

 peduncles about as long as the petioles : Jiypanthium glabrous or puberulent : sepals very 

 short : corolla yellow or greenish white, 3-4 mm. broad, pubescent without ; lobes ovate 

 or obovate : berries oblong or oval, 10-25 mm. long, pendulous, dark purple or blackish : 

 seeds obovoid, 3.5-4 mm. long, flattened. 



In swamps and light soil. Pennsylvania to Missouri, Florida, Texas and Mexico.— The form with 

 more or less hispidulous stems and petioles and deeply lobed leaf-blades, is M. pendula dspera Cogn.; it 

 occurs chiefly in Florida. 



5. Melothria chlorocdrpa Engelm. Similar to M. penclula in habit. Leaf-blades 

 thin, deeply and prominently lobed, often hispidulous on the veins beneath, as are the 

 petioles: berries oval, about 1.5 cm. long, yellow: seeds numerous, 5-6 mm. long. 



In thickets, eastern Texas. Spring. 



2. IBERVILLE A Greene. 



Perennial vines, with glabrous or nearly glabrous foliage and simple tendrils. Leaf- 

 blades deeply 3-5-lobed ; the lobes toothed or incised. Flowers dioecious, the staminate in 

 racemes or clusters, or rarely solitary. Hypanthium cylindric or cylindric-campanulate. 

 Corolla yellow, salverform. Stamens 3, the connective not produced beyond the anther. 

 Pistillate flowers solitary : calyx and corolla nearly like those of the staminate. Ovary 

 1-celled, with 2-3 placentae : stigma 3-lobed. Berry globose or subglobose, red or highly 

 colored. Seeds more or less swollen. IMaximowiczia Cogn., not Rupr.] 



