52 COMMON CANADIAN WILD PLANTS. 



axils of the upper loaves. Calyx bell-shaped, with 5-7 erect teeth, 

 with supplementary projections between them. Stamens 10, 

 exserted, 5 longer than the rest. Swamps. 



OBDEK XL. CUCURBITA'CE^E. (GomiD FAMILY.) 



Herbs, climbing by tendrils. Flowers monoecious. Calyx- 

 tube adherent to the 1-3-celled ovary. Corolla commonly more 

 or less gamopetalous. Stamens usually 3, united by their tortuous 

 anthers, and often also by the filaments. Leaves alternate, pal- 

 mately lobed or veined. 



Synopsis of tlie GCIKM-U. 



1. Si'cyos. Flowers greenish-white, small ; the staminate corymbcd, the 



pistillate clustered in a head on a long peduncle. Corolla 5-cleft, with a 

 spreading border. Style slender ; stigmas 3. Ovary 1-celled. Fruit 

 dry and indehiscmt, prickly, Vmr-like in appearance. 



2. Ecliinocys'tis. Flowers whitish, small ; the staminate in long compound 



racemes, the pistillate in small clusters from the same axils. Corolla 

 G-parted. Stigma broad, almost sessile. Ovary 2-celled, 4-seeded. Fruit 

 fleshy, becoming dry, clothed with weak prickles. 



1. SI'CYOS, L. STAR CUCUMBER. 



S. angula'tus, L. A clammy-hairy weed in damp yards. 

 Leaves roundish heart-shaped, 5-angled or lobed. 



X. ECHINOCYS'TIS, Torr. and Gray. WILD BALSAM-Appi.K. 

 E. loba'ta, Torr. and Gray. Climbing high about dwellings. 

 Leaves deeply -and sharply 5-lobed. The oval fruit 2 inches long. 



OKDEK XLT. FICOI'DEJE. (!CE- PLANT FAMILY.) 



A miscellaneous group, embracing plants formerly included in 

 Caryophyllacc;c and Portulaeace;e ; differing, however, from true 

 representatives of these in having partitions in the ovary. Petals 

 wanting in our genus. 



L. CAUIMCT-WF.KD. 

 M. verticilla'ta, L. A prostrate much-branched herb, grow- 

 ing in patches. Leaves spathulate, apparently vertieillate. 

 Flowers on long axillary pedicels, clustered into a sort of umbel. 

 Sepals 5, white inside. Petals none. Stamens mostly 3. Styles 



