518 lxiii. passiflore.e (masters). [Ophiocaulon. 



pitted, surrounded by a fleshy aril. Albumen fleshy; cotyledons orbi- 

 cular, leafy, flat. — Climbing shrubs with woody stems and slender 

 branches, often containing a gummy juice. Leaves alternate, stalked, 

 smooth, entire or lobed, with a single gland at the apex of the petiole. 

 Tendrils axillary, thickened at the apex. Flowers small, greenish, 

 arranged in stalked axillary cymose panicles. Pedicels cirrhose. 



A small genus, separated from Modecca by reason of its small flowers, deeply-parted 

 calyx, obscure corona, and sessile stigma. 

 Leaves rounded, rarely lobed, white beneath and speckled with 



reddish spots. Petiolar gland solitary 1. 0. cissampeloides. 



Leaves roundish, 3-lobed, paler beneath. Petiolar glands 2 . 2. 0. gummifer. 

 Leaves oblong-lanceolate, rarely obscurely lobed 3. 0. cynanchifolius. 



1. O. cissampeloides, Mast. A climber with terete ash-coloured 

 branches. Leaf-stalk an inch or more in length, with a single gland at 

 the summit ; leaves membranous, glabrous, green or marbled on the 

 upper surface, white below and sprinkled with black spots, suborbicular, 

 abrupt or somewhat cordate at the base, obtuse or slightly acute at the 

 apex, rarely obscurely 3-lobed ; tendrils axillary, thickened at the end ; 

 sterile, or rarely floriferous. Inflorescence many-flowered, terminal or 

 axillary, cymosely panicled, usually distinct from and shorter than the 

 tendrils. Male fl. : Calyx campanulate, a quarter of an inch or 

 more in diameter, deeply divided into 5 ovate-lanceolate entire lobes, 

 marked with linear spots. Petals 5, shorter and narrower than the 

 calyx-lobes, fringed at the edges, attached at the base of the calyx. 

 Filaments very short, subulate ; anthers linear, obtuse, 4-lobed. Rudi- 

 ment of the pistil minute. Female fl. : Staminodes very short. Fruit 

 of the size of a pigeon's egg and upwards, 3-valved, valves obtuse, 

 coriaceous, brownish orange, ultimately somewhat tubercled, sur- 

 rounded at the base by the persistent calyx. — Modecca cissampeloides, 

 Planch, in Fl. Nigrit. 365. 



Upper Guinea. Fernando Po, Vogel! Mann! Nun river, Barter! Gaboon, 

 Mann 1 



Lower Guinea. Angola, Pungo Andongo and Golungo Alto, Dr. Welwitsch! 



The leaves are somewhat variable, and particularly on nou-flowering branches where 

 they are sometimes deeply 3-5-lobed, and the lobes themselves pinnately divided. 



2. O. gummifer, Mast. A woody climbing plant, with' green cylin- 

 drical striated branches containing a gummy juice. Leaf-stalks long, 

 with a gland on either side at the apex ; leaves 1-4 in. long, 1 J— 5 in. 

 wide, shorter than the stalks, smooth, membranous, paler on the under 

 surface, roundish, abrupt or wedge-shaped at the base, palmately 

 3-lobed, lobes shallow, blunt, entire, sinuses wide. Tendrils axillary, as 

 long as the leaf-stalks, thickened at the extremity, floriferous in the 

 middle. Male fl. ; Calyx £ in. long ; lobes subcoriaceous, linear, spotted, 

 the covered edges thin, crenulate, the free edges entire. Petals 5, linear- 

 oblong, entire, 1-nerved, spotted, attached to the base of the calyx, 

 half the length of the sepals and narrower. Stamens 5; filaments 

 short, awh-shaped, erect, coherent at the base. Rudiment of the pistil 

 minute. Female fl. : Fruit coriaceous, oyoid, 1-2 in. long, yellowish, 



