Tel/aima] lxiii. cucurbitace^. 387 



LXIII. CUCURBITACEtE. 



The Cucurbitacere produce a great feature of vegetation in the 

 primitive forests both by the very varied forms of their foliage and 

 particularly by the beauty and brilliant colours of their fruits ; 

 the mountainous region abounds in very fine species. The bastard 

 colocynth, Adenopus breviflorus Benth., is abundant in all the 

 forests in the same region ; a species of Trochomeria, which is 

 called by the negi-oes " Bumba-Riachole," furnishes in its turnip- 

 like root an efiicacious remedy against the attacks of quinsy ; and 

 Cucumis chrysocomus Schum. ornaments the sea-shore with its 

 handsome golden fruit. Cucumbers, melons, water-melons, bottle- 

 gourds, and common gourds, and their varieties are cultivated in 

 all the regions of Angola, although at times with but little satis- 

 factory results. Lagenaria vulgaris Ser., the Colombro of the 

 Portuguese, the fruit of which is called " Binda" by the natives, 

 grows wild in many damp situations in the coast and moun- 

 tainous regions. Sechium edule Sw., the " chocho " of the West 

 Indies, was recommended by Welwitsch as well worth introducing 

 into Angola and cultivating for the sake of its well-flavoured 

 fruit ; it is subspontaneous in the African island of St. Thomas, 

 where it is called "Pimpinella " (Welwitsch, Apont. p. 556, n. 129). 



1. TELFAIRIA Hook. ; Benth. & Hook. f. Gen. PI. i. p. 821. 



1. T. pedata Hook, in Bot. Mag. tt. 2751,2752 (1 July 1827); 

 Hook. f. in Oliv. Fl. Trop. Afr. ii. p. 523 ; Cogniaux in DC. 

 Monogr. Phan. iii. p. 350 (1881). 



Joliffea africana Bojer ex Hook., I.e., Boj. ex. Raff. Delile in 

 Mem. Soc. Hist. Nat. Paris iii. p. 318, t. 6 (July 1827) {Joliffia). 



Mozambique Coast. — A shrubby climber ; fruit immense, 2 to 3 ft. 

 long, 6 to 8 in. thick, containing very tasty large seeds, which the 

 Portuguese colonists call "castanhas de luhambane." The negroes of 

 Mozambique call the plant " cueme " or " koueme," and Welwitsch 

 recommended its introduction into Angola. Dec. 1861. Coll. 

 Carp. 600. 



2. T. occidentalis Hook, f., I.e., p. 524 ; Cogn., I.e., p. 351. 

 Sierra Leone. — A herb, climbing far and widely ; leaves trifolio- 



late ; corolla from whitish to sordid-purplish. Along fences composed 

 of some shrubby leafless Euphorhia, near Freetown, not uncommon ; fl. 

 at the time of the great rains, Sept. 1853. No. 823- 



2. TROCHOMERIA Hook. f. in Benth. & Hook. f. Gen. PL i. 

 p. 822. Heterosicyos Welw. ex. Hook, f., I.e. 



1. T. vitifolia Hook. f. in Oliv. Fl. Trop. Afr. ii. p. 525; 

 Cogn., I.e., p. 396; Ficalho, PL Uteis, p. 186 (1884). 



GolunCtO Alto. — In the drier exposed bushy rocky situations at the 

 base of the mountains of Serra de Alto Queta, sparingly and sporadic : 

 male fl. March 1856 ; fr. Oct. No. 793- A herb, grass-green through- 

 out inclusive even of the flowers ; producing every year from the very 

 large underground or half underground tuber slender subvoluble 

 tendrilled sparingly leafy runners, 4 to 7 ft. long ; flowers mostly male ; 



