366 Order 60.— CRASSUXACE.E. 



denticulate ; fls. 2 £ J , the # on short peduncles ; fr. oval or subglobous, smooth, 

 longitudinally torulous.— (£) Native of Asia, whence it was first brought to Eng- 

 land in 1570. Generally cultivated for the juicy, yellowish, delicately flavored 

 flesh of the mature fruit. Jn., Jl. Varieties numerous. 



3 C. Anguria L. Prickly Cucumber. St. prostrate, slender, hispid ; ten- 

 drils simple ; lvs. palmately and deeply sinuate-lobed, cordate at base ; fr. oval- 

 ovoid, or subglobous, echinate. — CD Cultivated for the green fruit, which is about 

 the size of a hen's egg, and used for pickles. Jl., Aug. \ Jamaica. 



4 C. Colocynthis L. Colocyxth. St. prostrate, subhispid; lvs. cordate- 

 ovate, cleft into many obtuse lobes, hairy-canescent beneath ; tendrils short ; fls. 

 axillary, pedunculate ; ? with a globous, hispid caL tube and campanulate limb, 

 with small petals ; fr. globous, yellow when ripe, about as large as an orange, 

 and intolerably bitter. — The extract is the colocynth of the shops, poisonous, but 

 medicinal, f Prom Japan. 



5 C. anguinus L. Serpent Cucumber. Sts. climbing ; lvs. 3 to 5-lobcd, 

 repand-dentate ; tendrils forked ; fr. very long, smooth, cylindrical, coiled. — Culti- 

 vated for the curiosity of the long, snake-like fruit, f E. Ind. 



Order LIX. BEGONIACEvE. Begoniads. 



Herbs or succulent undershrubs with an acrid juice. Leaves alternate, oblique at 

 the base, with large, scarious stipules. Flowers diclinous, pink-colored, cymous. 

 Calyx adherent, colored. Sepals of the $ 2 pairs, decussating; of the $ 5, imbri- 

 cated, or 8. Stamens OO, distinct or coherent in a column. Anthers clustered. 

 Ovary inferior, 3-celled, with 3 largo placentas meeting in the axis. Seeds minute, 

 without albumen. Fruit capsular. (Fig. 270.) 



Genera 4, species ICO, mostly natives of the Indies and P. America — noneN. American. They 

 are frequently cultivated as curious and ornamental. Properties astringent and bitter. 



DIPLOCLIN'IUM, Lindl. Elephant's Ears. (Gr. dntXboq, double, 

 kXiv-tj, couch ; alluding to the double placentae.) Fls. 8 . — £ Sepals 

 orbicular, colored like the petals, but larger ; petals oblong, acute ; 

 stamens combined in a column; anthers in a globous head. ? Sepals 

 8, lanceolate, larger tban the 2 petals ; stigma lobes distinct, spiral, 

 erect ; capsule wings unequal ; placentae double, or 2 in each cell. — 

 Evergreen, succulent undershrubs. 



D. Evansianum Lindl. Glabrous; st. branched, tumid and colored at tho 

 joints, succulent ; lvs. large, slightly angular, mucronate-serrate, cordate-ovate, 

 very unequal at base, petiolate, with weak, scattered prickles, and straight, red 

 veins, the under surface deeply reddened ; fls. pink-colored in all their parts, 

 except the golden yellow anthers and stigmas; 5 larger than the $, and on 

 peduncles twice as long. Prom China. (Begonia discolor Willd.) — Many other 

 species are found in conservatories — too many for our limits. 



Order LX. CRASSULACELE. House-leeks. 



Flantt herbaceous or shrubby, succulent. Lvs. entire or pinnatifid* Stip. 0. 

 Flowers 6essile, usually in cymes and perfectly symmetrical. Sepals 3 to 20, more 

 or less united at base, persistent. Petals as many as the sepals, distinct, rarely co- 

 hering. Stamens as many as the petals, and alternating with them, or twice as 

 many. Ovary as many as the petals and opposite them. ML distinct Anth. 

 2-celled, bursting lengthwise. Fruit, follicles as many as the ovaries, each open- 

 ing by the ventral suture, many-seeded (Figs. 260, 261.) 



Genera 22, species 450, chiefly natives of the warmer regions of the globe, particularly the- 

 C'npc- OJ' Good Hope. About 20 are found in N. America. They grow in the thinnest and driest 

 now, on naked rocks, sandy deserts, etc They have- no peculiar property except a slight acrU- 

 i:j . Many are highly ornamental. 



