DICOTYLEDONOUS PLANTS yaa! 
leaves long-petioled, soon withering; stem-leaves 2-5 in. long, 
sessile, the leaflets lanceolate, entire or serrate. Corolla pale 
pink. Rootstocks Se res used in medicine. Cultivated 
from Europe. 
Il. VALERIANELLA, Tourn. 
Annual herbs; stem forking regularly. Leaves opposite, 
entire or dentate. Flowers in crowded, terminal, bracted 
cymes. Calyx-limb toothed or wanting. Corolla white or 
purplish, funnel-form, 5-lobed. Stamens 3. Style 3-lobed. 
Fruit 3-celled, 1-seeded.* 
1. V. olitoria, Poll. Lams Lettuce. Stem erect, smooth, or 
downy at the nodes, many times forked, 9-12 in. high. Basal leaves 
tufted, spatulate to obovate, entire, the upper lanceolate, dentate, 
sessile. Cymes short-peduncled, bracts linear. Flowers pale blue. 
Fruit compressed, oblique. On rich soil in waste places.* 
2. V. radiata, Dufr. Corn SALap. Stem erect, smooth above, 
downy below, 2-4 times forked, 8-12 in. high. Lower leaves spatu- 
late, entire, the upper lanceolate, clasping at the base, dentate. 
Cymes compact; bracts lanceolate. Flowers white. Fruit ovoid, 
downy, furrowed. On damp soil.* 
98. CUCURBITACEZ. Gourp FamILy. 
Somewhat succulent, tendril-bearing, prostrate or climbing, 
herbaceous plants. Leaves alternate, with stipules. Flowers 
dicecious or moncecious, often gamopetalous. Calyx-tube ad- 
nate to the ovary; calyx-limb (if present) 5-lobed. Corolla 
usually 5-lobed and with its tube more or less united with the 
calyx-tube. Stamens perigynous or borne upon the corolla, 
the anthers usually joined in long, serpentine ridges. Ovary 
3-celled; stigmas 2 or 3. Fruit generally a pepo (like the 
melon, squash, and pumpkin), but sometimes dry. Seeds 
commonly large and flat. A large family, mostly of tropical 
plants, many with eatable fruit, but some species poisonous. 
