114 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



Found on the banks of streams, on the Connecticut and Housa- 

 tonic Rivers ; a cHmbing vine, with cordate, 5-lobed leaves, and 

 tendrils ; fruit 2-4 inches long, thick, covered with prickles, 

 echinate, and having 4 large, long, and thick seeds ; blossoms in 

 August. 



SicYOs. L. 19. 15. 



One of the Greek names for Cucumber ; a few species further 

 South. 



S. angulatus. L. Single-seeded Cucumber. Grows also 

 on the banks of streams ; often cultivated, as it will run far, and 

 form a dense and large arbor ; a climbing, small vine, with whitish 

 flowers, and greenish ; bears several fruits in one cluster, each 

 about an inch or more long, and containing one very large seed ; 

 blooms from June to September ; leaves large, cordate, angu- 

 lar, toothed. 



The powerful cathartic of the shops, known as Elaterium, is 

 merely the inspissated juice of the fruit, known under the title of 

 squirting cucumber^ JVI. elaterium, L., because the ripe fruit 

 throws out its juice and seeds with much force ; this is a native 

 of the South of Europe, and sometimes found in our more ex- 

 tensive gardens. 



ORDER 182. PLANTAGINE^. The Rib-Grass 



Tribe. 



Only one genus in this order belongs to Massachusetts. The 

 plants are commonly without a stem, that is, they have only a 

 flower-stalk, their leaves are radical, and their flowers in a long 

 spike. The calyx and corolla are distinct, the former being 4- 

 leafed, and the latter 4-parted ; the flowers unattractive. 



Plantago. L. 4. 1. 



P. major. L. Common Plantain. One of the plants that 

 seem to follow man in the temperate climes, so that where he 

 rears a hut or tills the soil, it appears to cheer him on his way. 

 The Indians called it the White Marl's Foot, Leaves somewhat 



