148 LY THRACE &. [PEPLIS. 



minute, plano-convex. DISTRIB. Europe, N. Africa, temp. Asia ; spi . ii s 

 3. ETYM. ittir\iov, the old name for Portulaca transferred. 



1. P. Por'tula, L. ; leaves obovate obtuse, flowers axillary solitary. 

 Hoist places, ascending to 1,200 ft. in Yorkshire ; fl. July-Aug. -Glabrous, 



branched, tufted. Stems 3-8 in., 4-angled, creeping, fragile. Lfm-fx .V-l in.. 



opposite, short-petioled. F lovers very minute, in almost all the leaf-axil*. 



purplish. Calyx 12-ribbed, hemispheric ; teeth triangular. Petals minute 



orO. Stamens 6 or 12. Capsule globose. DISTRIB. Europe, N. Africa.; 



ORDER XXXIV. CUCURBITA'CEJE. 



Tribe CUCUMERI'NEJE. 



Prostrate or climbing annual or perennial herbs. Leaves alternate, 

 exstipulate. Tendrils lateral, simple or divided. Flowers usually cymose, 

 moncecious or dioecious. Calyx superior ; lirnb rotate, campanulate or 

 tubular ; lobes 5, valvate in bud. Petals 5, inserted on the calyx-limb, 

 free or connate below, valvate or induplicate in bud. Stamens 3, inserted 

 on the, base or sides of the calyx ; filaments and anthers free or connate, 

 the latter adnate to the filaments, bursting outwards, one 1-celled, two 

 2-celled, cells straight curved or flexuous. Ovary inferior, 3-celled ; 

 placentas 3, fleshy, projecting to and confluent iu the axis of the ovary 

 and thence reflexed to its walls ; style simple or divided, stigmas various ; 

 ovules 2-seriate, parietal, horizontal, anatropous, buried in pulp, l^rrii 

 1-celled, many-seeded, filled with pulp. Seeds usually flattened, albumen 

 0, testa coriaceous or crustaceous ; embryo flattened, cotyledons plano- 

 convex or foliaceous, radicle short. DISTRIB. Chiefly Indian and African ; 

 genera 47 ; species 360. AFFINITIES. With Passiflorcoe. The above 

 characters comprise the mass of the Order, which is included in the tribe 

 Cucumeri'nco>. PROPERTIES. Purgative and bitter, but many yield by 

 cultivation esculent fruits. 



l. BRYO'NIA, L. BRYONT. 



Slender climbing perennial herbs. Leaves 3-5-angled or -lobed. MALE 

 fl. in racemed corymbose or fascicled cymes. Calyx-lube campanulate, 

 5-toothed. Corolla rotate or campanulate, 5-partite. Stamens 3, rarely 5 ; 

 anthers free or slightly cohering, cells flexuous. FKMAI.K fl. solitary or 

 crowded, calyx and corolla of the male. Ovary ovoid or globose ; style 

 slender, 3-lid, stigmas simple or 2-lobed. Berry spherical, many or few- 

 seeded. Seeds tumid or compressed. DISTRIB. Temp, and trop. ; species 

 1*2. ETYM. $puu, to shoot, from the rapid growth of the shoots. 



1. B. dioi'ca, L. ; hispid, dioecious, leaves palmately 5-lolir 1. 

 Hedges and thickets in England, rare in the North ; absent from Scotland and 



Ireland ; fl. May-Sept. Acrid, foetid. Rootslock of very largo fleshy tubers ; 



juice nauseous, milky. Stems many, annual, slender, angled, tendrils simple. 



Leaves 3-5 in. diam., petioled, suborbicular, cordate, lobes sinuate. Cymes 



of male corymbose, 3-8 flowered; of fern, umbelled. Corolla ^-f in. diam., 



hairy, greenish. Ovary smooth, stigmas 2-cleft. Berry 4 in. diam., red, 3-6- 



seeded. DISTRIB. Europe from Denmark southwards, N. Africa, W. Asia. 



Root acrid and cathartic. 



