CUCURBITACEAE 1135 



rarely dioecious, the staminate usually in racemes or corymbs. Sepals 5. Corolla white or 

 yellow, with 5 lobes. Stamens 3, or rarely 5 : anthers more or less connate. Pistillate 

 flowers solitary, often slender-pedicelled, with a calyx which is narrowed below, spreading 

 above, an early withering corolla, rudimentary stamens and globose or elongated ovary 

 with a short style, inserted in a disk. Ovules numerous, horizontal. Berry small, pendu- 

 lous, mostly many-seeded. Seeds flattened, with a leathery testa. CREEPING CUCUMBER. 



Berries globose or nearly so. 



Berries less than 10 mm. in diameter. 1. M. microcarpa. 



Berries over 10 mm. in diameter. 2. M. Nashti. 



Berries oblong or oval. 



Stems trailing or creeping: leaf-blades broader than long, the lobes low and rounded. 3. M. crassifolia. 

 Stems climbing : leaf-blades longer than broad, the lobes angular. 



Berries dark purple or blackish : seeds 3-4 mm. long. 4. M. pendula. 



Berries yellow : seeds 5-6 mm. long. 5. M. chlorocarpa. 



1. Melothria microcarpa (Cogn. ) Shuttlw. Stems climbing, 5-15 dm. long, branched : 

 leaf -blades commonly as broad as long, thinnish, shallowly 3-5-lobed, 1-3 cm. long, cordate, 

 the lobes irregularly toothed ; petioles hispidulous, shorter than the blades : berries glo- 

 bose, 7-9 mm. in diameter. 



In thickets, northern Alabama. Spring and summer. 



2. Melothria Nashii Small. Stems trailing and creeping, 3-12 dm. long, branched, 

 angled : leaf -blades fleshy, suborbicular or triangular-ovate in outline, 2-3.5 cm. broad, 

 usually 5-lobed, very rough on the surfaces, the lobes entire or with 1-2 teeth or small 

 lobes ; petioles hispid, about as long as the blades : staminate flowers in long-ped uncled 

 corymbs, the pistillate on solitary long peduncles : hypanthium minutely hispid : sepals 

 triangular, acute, shorter than the hypanthium : corolla-lobes longer and narrower than 

 the sepals : anthers pubescent at the tip, nearly sessile : berries globose, 12-15 mm. in 

 diameter, their peduncles about 3 cm. long. 



In sandy soil, peninsular Florida. 



3. Melothria crassifolia Small. Stems trailing and creeping, 6-15 dm. long, 

 branched throughout, angled, sparingly pubescent : leaf-blades thick and fleshy, reniform 

 or orbicular-reniform, 2-4 cm. broad, usually with 5 rounded obtuse lobes, which are un- 

 dulate or shallowly toothed, cordate, the sinus closed or nearly closed ; petioles hispid, 

 about as long as the blades : staminate flowers in long-peduncled racemes, the pistillate 

 solitary on long peduncles : hypanthium minutely hispid : sepals triangular-ovate, much 

 shorter than the hypanthium, acute : anthers glabrous, nearly sessile : berries oblong, 

 1.5-2 cm. long. 



In moist places, peninsular Florida. 



4. Melothria pendula L. Stems climbing, nearly glabrous : leaf-blades thin, dry- 

 ing membranous, suborbicular or ovate in outline, 3-8 cm. broad, with 3-5 angular shal- 

 lowly toothed lobes and both surfaces pubescent with short hairs, cordate, the sinuses open ; 

 petioles 1-3.5 cm. long, hispid : staminate flowers racemed : pistillate flowers solitary, the 

 peduncles about as long as the petioles : hypanthium glabrous or puberulent : sepals very 

 short : corolla yellow or greenish white, 3-4 mm. broad, pubescent without ; lobes ovate 

 or obovate : berries oblong or oval, 10-25 mm. long, pendulous, dark purple or blackish : 

 seeds obovoid, 3.5-4 mm. long, flattened. 



In swamps and light soil, Pennsylvania to Missouri, Florida, Texas and Mexico. The form with 

 more or less hispidulous stems and petioles and deeply lobed leaf-blades, is M. pendula dspera Cogn.; it 

 occurs chiefly in Florida. 



5. Melothria chlorocarpa Engelm. Similar to M. pendula in habit. Leaf-blades 

 thin, deeply and prominently lobed, often hispidulous on the veins beneath, as are the 

 petioles : berries oval, about 1.5 cm. long, yellow: seeds numerous, 5-6 mm. long. 



In thickets, eastern Texas. Spring. 



2. IBERVILLEA Greene. 



Perennial vines, with glabrous or nearly glabrous foliage and simple tendrils. Leaf- 

 blades deeply 3-5-lobed ; the lobes toothed or incised. Flowers dioecious, the staminate in 

 racemes or clusters, or rarely solitary. Hypanthium cylindric or cylindric-campanulate. 

 Corolla yellow, salverform. Stamens 3, the connective not produced beyond the anther. 

 Pistillate flowers solitary : calyx and corolla nearly like those of the staminate. Ovary 

 1-celled, with 2-3 placentae : stigma 3-lobed. Berry globose or subglobose, red or highly 

 colored. Seeds more or less swollen. [Maxinwwiczia Cogn., not Rupr.] 



