848 Lxv. CUCURBITACE.E. [Gymnopetalum . 



cultivated in Europe). Distrib. Andamans and Nicobars, Borneo, 

 Java. 



Motley, who collected it in Borneo, 1857 to 1S58, says it is called Petola 

 Bruang, and that it is common on dry ground after burning and fruit eatable, 

 cultivated much in Singapore and Penang ; but it seems to have disappeared 

 of late years. 



4. MOMORDICA, Linn. 



Climbers. Tendrils simple. Leaves cordate, entire. Flowers 

 yellow or creamy. Males, solitary racemed, bracteate or not. 

 Calyx-tube short, campanulate, 2 to 3 basal oblong incurved scales, 

 lobes 5. Corolla, petals 5, free nearly to base. Stamens 3, con- 

 duplicate. Female, ovary oblong; style long. Stigmas 3. Fruit 

 oblong or spherical, sometimes prickly, sometimes 3-valved. Seed 

 obovate. Species 25, Africa, Asia, America. 



Momordica charantia Linn, with small 5-lobed leaves, small yellow 

 flowers and fusiform fruit acuminate at both ends, yellow, softly 

 prickly, dehiscing into 3 valves, with the seeds in a crimson aril, 

 is often cultivated and is known as " Peria Laut." 



Leaves entire, thin ; flowers i in. wide or less. 



Flowers -75 in. wide on long slender pedicels . (i) M. Clarkeana 

 Flowers i in. wide with large bract . . (2) M. subangulata 



Leaves trilobed ; flowers 3 in. wide, cream yellow, 



black centre ; fruit large spiny . . • (3) M, cochinchinensis 



(i) M. Clarkeana King, I.e. 35. 



Stem 4-angled. Leaves thin membranous, ovate cordate acute, 

 glabrous 3 to 5 in. long and nearly as wide; petioles 1*5 to 2 in. 

 long. Male flowers 75 in. across ; pedicels slender, several from 

 one axil or in lax racemes. Calyx-lobes puberulous, broad, obtuse, 

 edge glabrous. Corolla of 5 broad lobes, puberulous. Fruit 

 sub-globular, apiculate, red, i to 2*5 in. through. Hab. Forests. 

 Perak, Gunong Bubu (Kunstler) ; Kamuning (Ridley). 



(2) M. subangulata Bl. Bijdr. 928 ; King, I.e. 36. 



Stem angled. Leaves broad ovate deep, cordate with remote 

 teeth, glabrous above, sparse hairy beneath, 175 to 2 "25 in. long, 

 1*25 to 1-65 in. wide; petioles i in. long. Male peduncles i in. 

 long, pubescent. Flower-bracts broad, cordate, blunt, minutely 

 pubescent. Flower i in. across. Calyx deep purple, lobes oblong 

 blunt, "2 in. long. Corolla yellow; petals oblong with black spot 

 at base. Fruit ellipsoid 2 to 3 in. long, ribbed. Hab. Limestone 

 rocks and river-banks. Perak, Ipoh (Curtis) ; Kamuning. 

 Kelantan, Chaning, river-banks. Distrib. Lidia, Java. 



(3) M. cochinchinensis Sfreng, Syst. Veg. iii. 14; Bot. Mag. 

 t. 5145 ; King, I.e. 36. M. mixta Roxb. Hort. Beng. 70. 



A big climber. Leaves broadly ovate-cordate trilobed, glabrous, 

 4 to 7 in. long and as wide ; petioles 2 to 3 in. long. Male peduncles 

 2 to 6 in. long. Bract orbicular reniform cucullate. Calyx-lobes 

 coriaceous, hairy. Corolla 3 in. across, cream white, base of petals 



