Materials for a Flora of the Malayan Peninsula 37 



M. mixta, Roxb. Hort. Beng. 70 ; Flor. Ind. Ill, 709 ; Wight & Am. 

 Prodr. 349; Roera. Syn., fasc. 2, 59; Rook, in Bot. Mag. t. 5145 ; Miq. 

 Flor. Ind. Bat. 1, Pt. 1, 664; Naud. in Ann. Sc. Nat. Ser. 4, XII, 132. 

 M. dioica, Wall. Cat. (not of Roxb.) 6750, A to F. Muricia Cochin' 

 ■chinensvi, Lour. Flor, Cocli.-Chin. 733 ; Ser. in DC. Px'odr. Ill, 318. 



Perak ; Scortechinij King's Collector, Wray ; a common plant. 

 DiSTRiB. — British India, Malaya, Philippines. 



4. MoMOUDiCA Charantia, Linn. Sp. PI. ed. I, p. 1009. Stem 

 slender, branching, striate, pubescent, sometimes tomentose towards 

 the apex, 3-6 feet long. Leaves reniform-orbicular in general outline, 

 J-3in. in diam., deeply divided into 5-7 lobes ; the lobes sinuate-dentate 

 or lobulate and macronate, constricted at the base, glabrous or slio-htly 

 pubescent; petiole 1-3 in. ; the tendrils simple. Male 'peduncle slender, 

 with a reniform or orbicular bract at or below the middle. Male flower 

 •35-"75 in. in diam. ; the calyx-lobes ovate, acute ; corolla somewhat 

 irregular, yellow, its segments obtuse or emr^rginate, anther cells much 

 bent. Female 'peduncle 2-4 in. long, slender, bracteate near the base ; 

 ovary fasiform, muricate. Fruit 1-3 in. long, ovoid, tapering to both 

 ends, many-ribbed and bearing numerous triangular tubercles. Seeds 

 compressed, sometimes almost 3-toothed, the margins corrugated, the 

 sides sculptured. Lour. Flor. Cochchin. II, p. 598 ; Bot. Mag. t. 2455 ; 

 Ser. in DC. Prodr. Ill, 311 ; Roxb. Flor. Ind. Ill, 707 ; Wight and 

 Arn. Prodr. 348 ; Torr. and Gray Flor. N. Amer. I, 543 ; Wight Ic. 

 tab. 504 ; Wight III. t. 105 his ; Miq. Flor. Ind. Bat. I, Pt. I, 663 ; Cogn. 

 in Mart. Flor. Bras., fasc. 78, p. 14 ; Clarke in Hook. fil. Flor. Br. Ind. 

 II, 616. Cogn. in DC. Mon. Phan. Ill, 436. M. muricata, Willd. Spec. 

 IV, 602 ; Roxb. Flor. Ind. Ill, 707 ; W. & A. Prodr. 348 ; Miq. Flor. 

 Ind. Bat. I, Pt.I, 663. M. humilis, Wall. Cat. 6747. M. anthelmintica, 

 Schum. et Thou. Flor. Guin. 423. M. Roxhiirghiana, Don Gen. Syst. 

 Gard. Ill, 35. M. macropetala, Mart, in Hook. Journ. Bot. V, 504. 



Perak ; Scortechini. Distrib. Malayan Archipelago, British India, 

 China, Tropical Africa and America. 



7. Melothria, Linn. 



Climbing herbs ; tendrils simple or 2-fid. Leaves petioled, deltoid, 

 truncate or hastate, entire or deeply 3-lobed, little hairy, often punctate. 

 Flowers small, white, usually monoecious, males and females often from 

 the same axil ; male pedicels long, clustered (rarely sub-solitary) in the 

 axils, or clustered on long racemes resembling branches without leaves ; 

 female long-pedicelled. Male; calyx-tube short, teeth 5, small; corolla 

 5-partite ; stamens 3, inserted in the middle of the calyx-tube ; anthers 

 free, one 1-celled, two 2-celled ; cells free, straight, simple, more or less 



381 



