270 LIX. CUCURBITACE^. Echinocystis. 



Ova. (pist. fls.) winged, scelled, with 3 large pkcentse meeting in the axis. Stig. 3, 2-lobed, somewhat 

 Fr. capsular, winged, Scelled, many-seedea. Sds. minute, without albumen. [spiral. 



Genera 3, species 159, common in the West Indies, S. America and East Indies— none N. American. 

 The roots are astringent and slightly bitter. 



DIPLOCLINIUM. Lindl. 



Gr. (JittXooj, double, K\tvri, couch; alluding to the double placentae. 



Fls. <? •— c? Sepals orbicular, colored like the petals, but larger ; 

 pet. oblong, acute ; sta. combined in a column ; anth. in a globose 

 head. 9 Sepals 3, lanceolate, larger than the 2 petals ; stig. lobes 

 distinct, spiral, erect ; caps, wings unequal ; placentae double, or two 

 in each cell. — Evergreen^ succulent undershrubs. 



D. EvANsiANUM. Lindl. (Begonia discolor. Willd. Sind 1st edit.) — Glabrous; 

 St. branched, tumid and colored at the joints, succulent; Ivs. large, slightly an- 

 gular, mucronate-serrate, cordate-ovate, very unequal at base, petiolate, with 

 weak, scattered prickles, and straight, red veins, the under surface deeply red- 

 dened ; fls. pink-colored in all their parts except the golden yellow anthers and 

 stigmas ; 9 larger than the J* and on peduncles twice as long. — From China, f 



Order LIX. CUCURBITACEiE.— Cucurbits. 



Herbs succulent, creeping or climbing by tendrils. 



Lvs. alternaie, palmately-veiiied, rough. Fts. moncBcious or polygamous, never blue. 



Cal. 5-toothed. [reticulated veins. 



Cor.— Petals 5, united with each other and cohering to the calyx, very cellular, strongly marked with 



Sla. 5, distinct, more generally cohering in 3 sets. Anth. very long and wavy or twisted. 



Ova. inferior, 1-celled, with 3 parietal placentee often filling the cells. 



Fr. a pepo or membranous. Seeds flat, with no albumen, often ariled. 



Genera 56, species 270, natives of tropical regions, only a few being found m the temperate zones of 

 Europe and America. A highly important order of plants, aftbrding some of the most delicious and 

 nutritive of fruits. A bitter, laxative principle pervades the group, which is so concentrated in a few as 

 to render them actively medicinal. The officinal colocynth is prepared from the pulp of Cucumis Colo- 

 cynthis, a powerful drastic poison. 



Conspectus of the Genera. 



t l-seeded Sicyos. 



!4 Fruit membranaceous, echinate, } 4-seeded. 

 white. J Fruit a pepo with a hgneous, smooth rind. 

 i Seeds thin at edge. 

 4 indehiscent. I Seeds thick at edge. 

 ( Fruit a pepo, ( dehiscing elastically on one side. 

 yellow. I Fruit a small, oval, many-seeded berry. 



EchinoeystU. 2 



Lage.naria. S 



Cucumis. 5 



Cucurbita. 7 



Momordica. 4 



Melothria. 3 



1. SICYOS. 



Gr. aiKVOi, the ancient name of the cucumber. 



Flowers S . cf Calyx 5-toothed ; corolla rotate, 5-petaled ; stamens 

 5, monadelphous or at length triadelphous ; anthers contorted. 9 

 Calyx 5-toothed, campanulate ; petals 5, united at base into a cam- 

 panulate corolla ; styles 3, united at base ; fruit ovate, membrana- 

 ceous, hispid or echinate, with 1 large, compressed seed. — ® Climb- 

 ing herbs., icith compound tendrils. Sterile and fertile Jls. in the same axils. 



S. ANGULATUs. Singlc-seed Ciicumber. 



St. branching, hairy ; lvs. roundish, cordate with an obtuse sinus, 5-angled 

 or 5-lobed, lobes acuminate, denticulate ; 9 much smaller than the (^. — Can. 

 and U. S. A weak, climbing vine, with long, spiral, branching tendrils. Leaves 

 3 — 4' broad, alternate, on long stalk.-?. Flowers whitish, marked with green 

 lines, the barren ones in long-pedunculate racemes. Fruit J' long, ovate, spi- 

 nous, 8 — 10 together in a crowded cluster, each with one large seed. Jl. 



2. ECHINOCYSTIS. Torr. & Gray. 



Gr, cx^ivoi, seaiu'chin, leuorif, bladder; alluding to the spiny, inflated fruit. 



Flowers monoecious. Sterile fl. — Calyx of 6 filiform-subulate seg- 

 ments, shorter than the corolla ; petals 6, united at base into a rotate- 

 campanulate corolla ; stamens 3, diadelphous. Fertile Jl. — Cal. and 



