228 ELEMENTS OF BOTANY. 



II. MELOTHRIA. 



Perennial ; stem slender ; tendrils rarely branched ; leaves 

 entire or angular-lobed ; flowers polygamous or dioecious ; 

 staminate flowers clustered, calyx and corolla campanulate, 

 5-lobed, pistil minute or wanting ; pistillate flowers solitary, 

 calyx contracted above the ovary, corolla campanulate, 5- 

 parted ; ovary 3-celled, many-ovuled, style short, stigmas 3 ; 

 fruit smooth, berry-like, many-seeded. 



M. PENDULA L. Creeping Cucumber. Stem very slender, 

 smooth, branched, climbing, 3-G ft. long; leaves cordate, rough, 

 3-5-lobed, the lobes toothed ; flowers yellow, the staminate in few- 

 flowered racemes, the pistillate solitary, on long and slender droop- 

 ing peduncles ; fruit oval, about ^ in. long, greenish-black. May- 

 August. In thickets on light soil. 



III. SICYOS. 



Annual ; stem slender ; tendrils branched ; leaves angled ; 

 flowers monoecious ; calyx tube campanulate, with 5 minute 

 teeth ; corolla rotate, the limb deeply 5-parted ; staminate 

 flowers in racemes, pistillate flowers in capitate clusters ; 

 ovary 1-celled, 1-ovuled, style short, slender, stigmas 3 ; fruit 

 membranaceous, bristly, 1-seeded. 



S. ANGULATUS L. Star Cucumber. Stem slender, clammy- 

 pubescent, somewhat angled, climbing 10-20 ft.; tendrils mostly 

 3-foiked ; leaves thin, cordate to orbicular, angled and denticulate, 

 rough on both sides ; flowers greenish-white ; fruit long-peduncled, 

 yellowish, indehiscent. June- August. River banks and damp places. 



[Among the cultivated plants belonging to this family are 

 the watermelon and citron {Citrullus vulgaris), the cucumber 

 (Cneumis sativus), the muskmelon (^Cucumis melo), and the 

 Gourd {Larjenaria vulgare).'] 



122. CAMPANULACE;E. BELL-FLOWER FAMILY. 



Annual, biennial or perennial herbs, juice acrid or milky ; 

 leaves alternate, entire, dentate or lobed, exstipulate ; flowers 

 perfect, regular or irregular; calyx tube adherent to the 



