270 LIX. CUCURBITACEZ, EcHINOCYSTIS. 
a. (pist. fls.) winged, 3-celled, with 3 large placente meeting in the axis. Stig. 3, 2-lobed, somewhat 
4 cenaulat, wingell, 3-celled, many-seeded. Sds. minute, without albumen. : * (spiral. 
Genera 3, species 159, common in the West Indies, S. America and East Indies—none’ N. American. 
The roots are astringent and slightly bitter. ; 
. DIPLOCLINIUM. Lindl 
Gr. dito00s, double, kAtv7, couch; alluding to the double placente. 
Fls. §.— Sepals orbicular, colored like the: petals, buti larger ; 
pet. oblong, acute; sta. combined in a column; anth. in a globose 
Head: @ Sepals 3, lanceolate, larger than the 2 petals; stig. lobes 
distinct, spiral, erect ; caps. wings unequal; placentze double, or two 
in each cell. Evergreen, succulent undershrubs.. | 
D. Evanstanum. Lindl. (Begonia discolor. Willd. and 1st edit.)}—Glabrous ; 
st. branched, tumid and colored at the joints, succulent; ws. large, slightly an- 
gular, mucronate-serrate, cordate-ovate, very unequal at base, petiolate, with 
weak, scattered prickles, and straight, red veins, the under surface deeply red- 
dened ; fis. pink-colored in all their parts except the golden yellow anthers ‘and 
stigmas; © larger'than the g' and on peduncles twice as long.—From China. f: 
Orver LIX. CUCURBITACEA.—Cucurpits, 
Herbs succulent, creeping or climbing by tendrils. 
Lvs. alterna!e, palmately-veined, rough. Fils. moncecious or polygamous, never blue. : . 
Cal. 5-toothed. : ; [reticulated veins. 
Cor.—Petals 5, united with each other andcohering to the calyx, very cellular, strongly marked with’ 
Sta. 5, distinct, more generally cohering in 3 sets. Anth. very long and wavy or twisted: 
Ova. inferior, 1-celled, with 3 parietal placente often filling the cells. 
Fr. a pepo or membranous. Seeds flat, with no albumen, often ariled. 
Genera 56, species 270, natives of tropical regions, only a few being found in the temperate zones of: 
Europe and America. A ig important order of plants, affording some of the most delicious and 
nutritive of fruits. A bitter, laxative principle pervades the group, which is so concentrated ina few as 
to render them actively medicinal. The officinal colocynth is prepared from the pulp of Cucumis Colo- 
cynthis, a powerful drastic poison. 
Conspectus of the Genera. 
y ¢ 1-seeded. B z . 2 . Sicyos; 1 
see membranaceous, echinate, ? 4-seeded. - se Uw.) NN enanoeyation 2 
white: ? Fruit a pepo with a ligneous, smooth rind. eer ToC he 
: : Seeds thin at edge. - + + »« Cucumis, §& 
 epeaeectea Seeds thick atedge. . . . . Cucurdtta. 7 
¢ Fruit a pepo, ? dehiscing elastically on one side. c P . Momordica. 4 
Flowers lyellow. ? Fruita small, oval, many-seeded berry. . +» . « » «.Melothria, 3 
1. SICYOS:. 
Gr. otkvos, the ancient name of the cucumber. 
Flowers §. & Calyx 5-toothed ; corolla rotate, 5-petaled ; stamens 
5, monadelphous or at length triadelphous; anthers contorted: 2 
Calyx 5-toothed, campanulate; petals 5, united at base into a cam- 
panulate corolla; styles 3, united at base; fruit ovate; membrana- 
ceous, hispid or echinate, with 1 large, compressed seed—@® Climb- 
ing herbs, with compound tendrils. Sterile and fertile fls. in the same axils. 
S. ancuLAtus. Single-seed Cucuntber. 
St. branching, hairy; vs. roundish, cordate with an obtuse sinus, 5-angled 
or 5-lobed, lobes acuminate, denticulate; 9 much smaller than the g.—Can. 
and U.S. A weak, climbing vine, with long, spiral, branching tendrils. Leaves 
3—4’ broad, alternate, on long stalks. Flowers whitish, marked with green 
lines, the barren ones in long- edunculate racemes. Fruit 4’ long, ovate, spi- 
nous, 8—10 together in a crowded cluster, each with one large seed. Jl. 
2. ECHINOCYSTIS. Torr. & Gray. 
Gr. EX VOS, sea urchin, kvoris, bladder; alluding to the spiny, inflated fruit. 
Flowers monecious. Sferile fl—Calyx of 6 filiform-subulate seg- 
ments, shorter than the corolla; petals 6, united at base into a rotate- 
campanulate corolla; stamens 3, diadelphous. Fertile fl—Cal. and 
