SicTos. CUCURBITACEiE. 541 



mcnts 3 (rather 5, triadelplious), sometimes wanting. Perfect Fl. like 

 the pistillate, but with fertile stamens. Fruit an oval small many-seeded 

 berry. Seeds (small) obovate, compressed, furfuraceouswith minute matted 

 hairs. — Tendrils simple. 



1. M. pendula (L\nn.) : stems slender, oliinbinjr : leaves (small) roundish- 

 cordate, repand-toothed, 5-anii;led or o-lobcd ; the middle lobe longest, mu- 

 cronate; sterile flowers in small racemes; the fertile solitary, on iilifonn 

 pedicels at lcn2:lh as long as the leaves; teeth of the calyx minute ; style 

 short, surrounded by a cup-shaped consi)icuous disk ; fruit small, blackish 

 when ripe. — Linn. ! spec. 1. p. 35. (pi. (ironov.) ; Walt. Cur. p. G6 ; Michx. ! 

 fl. 2. ;7. 21 7; Ell.sk. 2. p. 6G2 : Serin ge ! in DC. prodr. 3. ;;. 313. 

 M. nigra Baf.! ann. nat. (1820). 



Shady places, Virginia ! to Georgia ! Alabama ! and Louisiana ! June- 

 Aug. — Leaves scabrous, 1-2 inches in diameter. Flowers small, yellowish. 



2. M. grandi folia: leaves (thin and membranous) somewhat cordate at 

 the base, 3-lobed, denticulate; tlie middle lobe much largest, acuminate-cus- 

 pidate ; both sterile and fertile flowers on simple very short pedicels, several 

 together in the axils of the leaves ; teeth of the calyx linear-subulate, more 

 tlian half the length of the petals; style rather long, surrounded at the base 

 with a 3-lobed disk ; fruit oblong, orange-color, as long as the jjcdiccls. 



Low banks of the Mississippi, Dr. Leavenworth I — Stem apparently climb- 

 ing. Leaves 4-6 inches in diameter, somewhat scabrous, on hairy petioles ; 

 the lateral lobes often angled near the base or somewhat lobed. Flowers 

 larger than in M. pendula; the sterile ones largest. — We have not seen the 

 seeds or full-grown fruit. The fertile flowers have rudimentary stamens. 



3. SICYOS. Linn. ; Juss. gen. p. 394; Gcertn.fr. t. 88. 



Flowers monoecious. Sterile Fl. Calj'x flattish ; the teeth 5, subu- 

 late or minute. Petals 5, ovate, combined below into a rotate corolla. 

 Stamens 5, all cohering in a tube, or at length separating into 3 parcels : 

 anthers contorted. Fertile Fl. Calyx constricted above the ovary, cam- 

 panulate. Petals united at the base into campanulate corolla. Disk obso- 

 lete or none. Ovary 1-celled, with a soUtary suspended ovule : style mostly 

 slender: stigmas 3, rather thick, revolute. Fruit ovate, membranaceous, 

 usually hispid or echinate with spiny bristles. Seed large, compressed, smooth 

 and even ; the testa almost crustaceous. — Sterile and fertile flowers usually in 

 the same axils; the former in racemes or corj'mbs, the latter in pedunculate 

 clusters : petals whitish, with green veins. Tendrils compound. Root 

 annual. 



■ 1. S. angidatus (Linn.): stem, petioles, and peduncles somewhat vis- 

 cidly pubescent with long hairs; leaves roundish-cordate, 5-angled or 5-lobed, 

 with 5 primary veins ; the lobes denticulate, acuminate, especially the 

 middle one ; tendrils 3-5-cleft ; sterile flowers in a corymbose (sometimes 

 branched) crowded raceme, on a very long peduncle ; fertile flowers on a 

 short peduncle : style slender ; fruit viscidly pubescent and echinate with 

 retrorsely scabrous prickly bristles. — Linn.! spec. 2. p. 1013 ; Michx.! fl. 



2. p. 217 ; Pursh,fl. 2. p. 44 ; Ell. sk. 2. p. 663 ; Seringe! in DC. prodr. 



3. p. 309. S. vititblia, Willd. spec. 4. p. 626.' S. acutus, Raf.fl. Ludov. 

 Bryonoides flore & fructu minore, Dill. Elth. t. 51, /. 59. 



