536 223. CUCURBITACEAE 



3. Flowers usually dioecious, the female with staminodes. Ovules numerous, 



horizontal. Herbs. Tendrils simple or 2-cleft. Female flowers solitary. 

 — Species 30. Central and South Africa. Some species have edible 

 fruits or serve as ornamental or medicinal plants. [Cephalandra Schrad.) 



Coccinia Wight & Arn. 



Flowers monoecious, the female without staminodes. Ovule i, pendulous. 



Tendrils 3 — 5-cleft. Male flowers in racemes or panicles 4 



4. Female flowers sohtary or in pairs. Anthers free. Fruit large, fleshy. 



Shrubs. Flowers whitish. — Species i (S. edule Swartz). Cultivated 

 and sometimes naturalized in North Africa, the island of St. Thomas, 

 and the Mascarenes. The stem yields fibres, the roots and fruits are 



edible and contain starch Sechium P. Browne 



Female flowers crowded in heads. Fruit small, with a leathery rind. 

 Herbs. Flowers greenish. — Species i. Central Africa ; also cultivated 

 in the Mascarene Islands. Yields starch and medicaments. Sicyos L. 



5. Stamens 5, one of them sterile ; filaments free ; anthers more or less 



cohering, 2-celled. Petals unequal, undivided. Ovarj^ incompletely 

 3-celled ; ovules few in each cell, pendulous. Styles 3 ; stigmas 2- 

 lobed. Fruit 3-valved at the apex. Seeds winged. Shrubs. Tendrils 

 2-cleft. Flowers dioecious, the male in racemes, the female solitary. — 

 Species 4. Central and South Africa. Used medicinally. (Including 

 Atheranthera Mast.) [Tribe FEVILLEAE.] . . Gerrardanthus Harv. 

 Stamens 4 — 5, united in pairs, hence apparently only 2 — ^3, rarely stamens 

 5, free and all fertile 6 



6. Anther -cells straight or slighth'^ curv^ed, rarely shortly inflexed at the base 



or apex. [Tribe MELOTHRIEAE.] 7 



Anther-cells much curved or twisted, U- or S-shaped. [Tribe CUCUR- 

 BITEAE.] 19 



7. Anther-cells (pollen-sacs) 4. Flowers large, rose-coloured, the male 



without a rudimentary pistil. Calyx-segments toothed. Petals ciliate. 

 Ovary oblong, 3 — 5-celled. Ovules numerous. Style i. Fruit very 

 large. Leaves compound. Tendrils 2-cleft. — Species 2. Tropics. 

 They yield edible oily seeds and medicaments. (Including Ampelosicyos 



Thouars). [Subtribe telfairiinae.] Telfairia Hook. 



Anther-cells 2, rarely [Melothria) 4, but then flowers small, white or yellow, 

 the male with a rudimentary pistil, fruit small, and leaves simple. . 8 



8. Disc at the base of the style distinctly developed. [Subtribe melo- 



THRIINAE.] 9 



Disc at the base of the style indistinct or wanting. [Subtribe 



ANGURIINAE.] 10 



9. Calyx with a cylindrical tube and long, awl-shaped segments. Anthers 



sessile, attached by the back. Male flowers sohtary or 2 — 3 together, 



female solitary. — Species 3. Central Africa. Oreosyce Hook. fil. 



Calyx with a campanulate tube and short segments. Anthers attached 



by the base. — Species 30. Tropical and South Africa. They yield 



