VI. 



PLAXT^ WKIGHTIAN^. 



61 



somo 



I 



of autliors), rarely 4, two of tlicm bilocular and two unilocular : connective 

 what dilated; the cells linear, 2^ lines long, straight or nearly so. Thcre .is a 

 thickish disk in the bottom of the calyx. Stigma 3-lobed, flesliy. Ovary 3-cclIcd ? 

 many-ovuled. The mature fruit, according to Mr. Wright, is ovoid, 3 or 4 inchcs 

 long, about the size of that of Cucurbita perennis, perhaps of softer consistcncc 

 than in that plant, but a true pepo. — I cannot hesitate to refer this to the imper- 

 fectly known genus Apodanthera of Arnott. I doubt, however, if it be a congener 

 of Apodanthera gracilis, Benth., as it is certainly very different from Melothria. 



Cyclantheha dissecta, Arn. in HooJc. Jour. Bot Z. p. 280; Gray, Pl Wrightp. 

 15. Guadalupe Pass, between Santa Cruz, Sonora, and the copper mines, New 

 Mexico ; Oct, with ripe fruit. (1089.) — The mature fruit is drj, with thin walls, 

 somewhat compressed, semiovate, one margin strongly gibbous, the othcr straight or 

 slightly concave, pointed (the point a little recurved), an inch long, beset with soft 

 and naked prickles ; witliin, near the concave or inner edge, hangs from thc summit 

 an elongated placenta, wliich reaches nearly to the base of the single ccll ; hcre, oii 

 short and pcrsistent 2-ranked funiculi, are attachcd 6 or 7 ascending seeds, partly 

 covered by the hbrous remains of the tissue of a sparing pulp. The secds are 3 

 lines long, comprcssed, pointed at the hilum, nearly truncate at the opposite end ; the 

 testa brown, firm, tuberculate-roughened. Whether the ovary is more than one-celled 

 I cannot clearly asccrtain. If there are any partitions, they speedily disappear. 



Elaterium ^? Wrightii (sp. nov.) : caule pubescente ; foliis reniformi-cordatis 

 subangulatis apice triangulato-acuminatis pubcrulis margine vix denticulatis ; cir- 

 rhis trifidis ; floribus masculis racemosis, calycc brevissimo subplano, focmincis soli- 

 tariis collo filiformi ; petalis ovalibus acutiusculis ; ovario biloculari, loculis singulis 



3-ovulatis : fr 



gis mollibus hirsutis armato 



.piculato. — Mountains at Guadalupe P 



Oct. (1090.) 



Organ Mountains, near EI Paso; May. — " Climbing, 4-6 feet high." This is 

 evidently a congener of Elaterium pubescens, Benth., and of other Mexican plants 

 referred to this i^enus. The leaves are much like those of E. pubescens, and the in- 



florescence is similar ; but the male flowers are scveral timcs smallcr (only 3 lines 

 in diameter) and on shorter pedicels, and the calyx is as flat as that of a Sicyos. 

 I should have referred it to E. hastatum, H. B. K., except that the male flowers can 

 hardly be called minute ; and the fruit is not reniform ; nor is it 2-vaIvGd, but de- 

 hiscent at the apex. The fruit is from 12 to 18 lines long, the slender pricklcs half 

 an inch long. The dissepiment remains, either complete or incomplete, at maturity. 

 Seeds 2 or 3 in each cell, flattish, truncate at the apex, tuberculate, nearly 3 lines 

 long. — The petals are sprinkled with adhercnt pollen-grains as In E. pubescens, 



they were described as " punctate 



5) 



E. ? Coulteri (sp. nov.): parce scabro-pubescens ; foliis rotundo-cordatis pro- 

 funde 5-lobis, lobis ovatis dentatis' acutis, terminali acuminato ; cirrhis trifidis; 

 floribus masculis racemosis, calyce brevissimo patente, focmineis solitariis coUo fili- 

 formi; petalis oblongis retusis; fructu fere praecedentis. — (Zacatecas, Mexico, 

 Cow/fer, No. 51.) Ilills along the Coppermine Creek, NewMexico; Aug. — The 

 few specimens arc in flower only ; but it appears to be the same as one I possess 



ri 



PL, WK. " — J» 



