543 Lxrr. crcraiuTAcic'E. 



VS. ZANONIA, Linn. 



Scandent glabrous or pubescent sbrubs. Tendrils simple or bifid. 

 Leaves petiolate, ovate or oblong, entire. Tlowers dioecious, all racemose 

 or the males 2">awi<-"led. Male flowers: Sepals 3, broadly oblong or 

 orbicular, membranous, concave. Corolla rotate, 5-partite, coriaceous or 

 llesby ; tbe segments narrowed at tbe apex. vStameus 5, free, inserted 

 on a llesby disk ; filaments very sbort and thick ; anthers transversely 

 oblong, adnate to the filaments, 1-celled. liudimentary ovary 0. 

 Temale FLOWEHS: Calvx and corolla as in the male. Staminodes very 

 short, alternate with the petals. Ovary elongate, at first 3-celled, at 

 length 1-celled by the absorption of the septa; ovules 2-many in each 

 cell, attached at both sides to paz-ietal placentas, pendulous. I'ruit cylin- 

 dric, clavate or hemispheric, tei'ete or sub-trigonous, truncate and broadly 

 3-valved at the apex. Seeds large, pendulous, oblong, compressed, 

 imbricate, surrounded by a large membranous wing. — Distrib. Tropical 

 Asia, Java ; species 2. 



1. Zanonia indica, Linn. >S/>. PL ed. 2 (1763) p. 1457. Scandent, 

 climbing to a height of 30-50 ft. Stems stout, cylindric, striate, woody, 

 glabrous. Tendrils elongate, terete, glabrous. Leaves coriaceous, de- 

 ciduous (leaving a prominent circular scar), 3-6 by 2-4 in., ovate-oblong, 

 acute, entire, bright-green and glabrous above, paler and conspicuously 

 reticulate beneath, 3-nerved from a rounded or slightly cordate base ; 

 petioles §-l| in. long, stout, glabrous. Male floweks in racemes or 

 panicles 6-12 in, long, on slender grooved glabrous peduncles ; pedicels 

 somewhat stout, articulated about the middle, jV-^ hi. long, bracteolate 

 at the base. Sepals J^ in. long, ovate, acute, concave, glabrous. Petals 

 greenish-yellow, oblong, obtuse, ^ in. long, -^-^ in. broad at the base. 

 Fkmale floavehs in 5-12-flowered racemes 4-12 in. long. Sepals 

 broadly triangular, ^ in. long. Petals ovate-oblong, ^-g in. long. 

 Ovaiy cylindric, 2 in. long. Capsule in shape like a candle-extinguisher, 

 2-4 in. long, cylindric-obconic, slightly tapering towards a rounded base, 

 truncate at the apex, glabrous, pale yellowish-brown. Seeds much com- 

 pressed, I by I in., pale-yellow, smooth; the \\iiig2-2| in. long by § in. 

 broad, rounded at the base and apex. El. B. T. v. 2, p. 633 ; Ualz. & 

 Gibs. p. 99 : Wight, 111. t. 103 ; Trim. FI. Cevl. v. 2, p. 261 ; Woodr. 

 in Journ. Bomb. Nat. v. 11 (1S98) p. 641 ; Watt, Diet. Econ. Prod. 

 V. 6, part 4, p. 322. — The fruit is ripe in May. Veen. Chirpoti. 



Rare. Sfocka !, without locality (Herb. Kew.). Konkan : Vingorla, Balzell !, 

 Wuodrow. — DiM'RiB. India (Assam, E. Bengal, W. Peuiusula) ; Ceylon, Java, Borneo, 

 New Guinea, Malaya. 



The following plants which do not belong to au}'^ of the genera in tlie 

 preceding pages are cultivated : — 



Laijenaria vulgark, Seringe, the Bottle-Gourd (Veen. DwlM; DmUn/a ; 

 JJudh-hhopald), said by DeCandolle to be wild in India (Malabar and 

 the moist forests of Dehra Doon), the Moluccas and Abyssinia, is culti- 

 vated throughout India and in tropical and warm regions throughout 

 the world. There are several varieties distinguished chiefly by the fruit 

 which assumes a diversity of shapes. One of these which is shaped like 

 a flask is, when emptied and dried, largely used by the natives for toddy- 



