700 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HEEBAEIUM. 



3. CARDIOSPERMUM L. Sp. PI. 366. 1753. 



Vines, the stems herbaceous or friiticose ; leaves estipiilate, biternate or de- 

 compound, the leaflets coarsely toothed or lobed ; flowers racemose or corym- 

 bose, axillary, the peduncle with 2 tendrils ; flowers irregular, polygamo- 

 dioecious, white or yellowish white ; sepals 4 or 5, the 2 outer ones small ; 

 petals 4 ; stamens 8 ; fruit inflated, bladder-like, thin, 3-angled. 



The species are sometimes cultivated for ornament under the name " balloon- 

 vine." 



Tendrils reduced to short spines 1. C. spinosum. 



Tendrils well developed, coiling. 

 Sepals 5. 

 Leaflets crenate or crenate-lobate ; fruit obtusely angled__2. C. tortuosum. 

 Leaflets dissected into narrow lobes; fruit with thin compressed angles. 



4. C. dissectum. 

 Sepals 4 3. C. halicacabum. 



1. Cardiospermum spinosum Radlk. Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 1: 368. 1895. 

 Baja California ; type from La Paz. 



Stems fruticose ; leaflets few, 5 to 15 mm. long, lobed or crenate, glabrate ; 

 petals 4 mm. long. 



2. Cardiospermum tortuosum Benth. Bot. Voy. Sulph. 9. 1844. 

 FaulUnia tortuosa T. S. Brandeg. Zoe 2: 74. 1891. 



Baja California ; type from Magdalena Bay. 



Stems suffrutescent ; leaflets rhombic, crenate or lobate, densely pubescent or 

 glabrate ; petals 4 to 6 mm. long ; fruit 2 to 3 cm. in diameter. 



3. Cardiospermum halicacabum L. Sp. Pi. 366. 1753. 

 Cardiospermum corindum L. Sp. PI. ed. 2. 526. 1762. 

 Cardiospermum ptibescens Lag. Gen. & Sp. Nov. 14. 1816. 

 Cardiospermum coluteoides H. B. K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 5: 100. 1821. 

 Cardiospermum hispidum H. B. K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 5: 101. 1821. 

 Cardiospermum moUe H. B. K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 5: 103. 1821. 

 Cardiospermum microcarpum H. B. K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 5: 104. 1821. 



Nearly throughout Mexico, at low and middle altitudes. Widely distributed 

 in tropical regions of both hemispheres. 



Stems herbaceous or suffruticose ; leaflets very variable in form and pubes- 

 cence, densely pubescent to glabrous, 1 to 6 cm. long; flowers 4 to 6 mm. long; 

 fruit 1.5 to 4 5 cm. in diameter, glabrous or pubescent. " Hierba de chivato " 

 (Tamaulipas) ; " huevo de gato " (Durango) ; " munditos " (Oaxaca). 



The roots are said to have diuretic and sudorific properties. This species Is 

 an extremely variable one and many attempts have been made to segregate 

 the forms as species, but there seem to be no definite characters by which the 

 forms can be recognized. Radlkofer considers C. corindum a distinct species, 

 but the characters by which he separates it from C. halicacahum are neither 

 constant nor important. The writer is doubtful of the validity of C. tortuosum 

 and C. spinosum. 



4. Cardiospermum dissectum (S. Wats.) Radlk. in Engl. & Prantl, Pflanzeu- 



fam, 3°: 308. 1895. 

 Urvillea dissecta S. Wats. Proc. Amer. Acad. 21: 447. 1886. 

 Chihuahua ; type collected near the city of Chihuahua. 



Stems chiefly herbaceous; leaflets small, thinly hispidulous; inflorescence 

 few-flowered ; fruit about 3 cm. broad, lustrous. 



The seeds are much larger than in the other species. 



