VI. PLANTS WRIGHTIAN^. 61 



of authors), rarely 4, two of tlicm bilocular and two unilocular : connective some- 

 what dilated ; the cells linear, 21 lines long, straight or nearly so. There is a 

 thickish disk in the bottom of the calyx. Stigma 3-lobed, fleshy. Ovary 3-celledl 

 many-ovuled. The mature fruit, according to Mr. Wright, is ovoid, 3 or 4 inches 

 long, about the size of that of Cucurbita pcrennis, perhaps of softer consistence 

 than in that plant, but a true pepo. — I cannot hesitate to refer this to the imper- 

 fectly known genus Apodanthera of Arnott. I doubt, however, if it be a congener 

 of Apodantliera gracilis, Benth., as it is certainly very different from Melothria. 



CyclaisTHera dissecta. Am. in Hook. Jour. Bot. Z. p. 280 ; Gray, PL Wright, p. 

 75. Guadalupe Pass, between Santa Cruz, Sonora, and the copper mines, New 

 Mexico ; Oct., with ripe fruit. (1089.) — The mature fruit is dry, with thin walls, 

 somewhat compressed, semiovate, one margin strongly gibbous, the other straight or 

 slightly concave, pointed (the point a little recurved), an inch long, beset with soft 

 and naked prickles ; within, near the concave or inner edge, hangs from the summit 

 an elongated placenta, which reaches nearly to the base of the single cell ; here, on 

 short and persistent 2-ranked funiculi, are attached 6 or 7 ascending seeds, partly 

 covered by the fibrous remains of the tissue of a sparing pulp. The seeds are 3 

 lines long, compressed, pointed at the hilum, nearly truncate at the opposite end ; the 

 testa brown, firm, tuberculate-roughened. Whether the ovary is more than one-celled 

 I cannot clearly ascertain. If there are any partitions, they speedily disappear. 



Elaterium ? Wrightii (sp. nov.) : caule pubescente ; foliis reniformi-cordatis 

 subangulatis apice triangulato-acuminatis puberulis margine vix denticulatis ; cir- 

 rhis trifidis ; floribus masculis racemosis, calyce brevissimo subplano, foemineis soli- 

 tariis collo filiformi ; petalis ovalibus acutiusculis ; ovario biloculari, loculis singulis 

 3-ovulatis ; fructu oblongo recto aculeis longis mollibus hirsutis armato apice ros- 

 trato-apiculato. — Mountains at Guadalupe Pass, with the preceding ; Oct. (1090.) 

 Organ Mountains, near El Paso ; May. — " Climbing, 4-6 feet high." This is 

 evidently a congener of Elaterium pubescens, Benth., and of other Mexican plants 

 referred to this genus. The leaves are much like those of E. pubescens, and the in- 

 florescence is similar ; but the male flowers are several times smaller (only 3 lines 

 in diameter) and on shorter pedicels, and the calyx is as flat as that of a Sicyos. 

 I should have referred it to E. hastatum, H. B. K, except that the male flowers can 

 hardly be called minute ; and the fruit is not reniform ; nor is it 2-valved, but de- 

 hiscent at the apex. The fruit is from 12 to 18 lines long, the slender prickles half 

 an inch long. The dissepiment remains, either complete or incomplete, at maturity. 

 Seeds 2 or 3 in each cell, flattish, truncate at the apex, tuberculate, nearly 3 lines 

 long. — The petals are sprinkled with adherent pollen-grains as in E. pubescens, 

 in which they were described as " punctate." 



E. ■? CouLTERi (sp. nov.) : parce scabro-pubcscens ; foliis rotundo-cordatis pro- 

 funde 5-lobis, lobis ovatis dentatis acutis, terminali acuminato ; cirrhis trifidis ; 

 floribus masculis racemosis, calyce brevissimo patente, fcemineis solitariis collo fili- 

 formi; petalis oblongis retusis ; fructu fere prsecedentis. — (Zacatecas, Mexico, 

 Coulter, 'No. 5\.) Hills along the Coppermine Creek, New Mexico ; Aug. — The 

 few specimens are in flower only ; but it appears to be the same as one I possess 



PL. WR. 9. 



