532 lxiv. cucurbitace^: (hooker). [Sphcerosicyos. 



9. SPH-aJROSICYOS, Hook. f. ; Bentb. et Hook. f. 

 Gen. Plant, i. 824. 



Dioecious. Male fl. : Solitary or racemose. Calyx-tube turbinate ; 

 lobes glandular. Corolla deeply 5-partite ; lobes obovate. Filaments 

 free, inserted, on the mouth of. the calyx, recurved ; anthers exserted, 

 one 1-celled, two 2-celled; cells flexuous, bordering the broad connec- 

 tive. Rudiment of ovary 0. Female fl. : Staminodes small. Ovary 

 oblong; ; style columnar ; stigma large 3-lobed ; ovules very numerous 

 on 3 placentas. Fruit globose or nearly so, smooth, epicarp hard, pulp 

 fleshy. Seeds very numerous, obovoid, compressed, smooth, notched, 

 margin thickened. — Prostrate or climbing' stout perennials, root fibrous. 

 Leaves lobed ; petioles with 2 glands at the apex. Tendrils simple or 

 2-fid. Flowers large, white. Fruit large. 



1. S. Meyeri, Rook.f. Stem glabrous or nearly so, angled and grooved. 

 Leaves 2-6 in. long, coriaceous, scabrid, 5-lobed to or below the middle; 

 lobes lobulate and sharply irregularly toothed, rarely almost entire, 

 basal sinus open ; petiole with 2 conical horn-like processes at the apex. 

 Male peduncles stout, 4-6 in., 2— o-flowered at the apex; bracts minute, 

 or 0. Calyx-tube short, pubescent ; ldbes small, triangular- subulate. 

 Corolla 3—6 in. diameter ; lobes broadly oblong, obtuse. Female fl. : 

 Solitary, shortly pedicelled. Calyx-lobes small. Ovary ovoid, pubes- 

 cent. Fruit ovoid, green marbled with yellow, quite smooth, bard. — 

 Luffa spharica, Sond. Fl. Cap. ii. 490. Lagenaria spharica, E. Mey. Cat. 

 L. mascarena, iNaud. in Ann. Sc. Nat. ser. 4, xviii. 18?. 



IVXozamb. Distr. Rovuina river, Dr. Kirk I 



Also found in Natal, and originally described by Naudin as Lagenaria mascarena, 

 from specimens cultivated in the Mauritius. 



10. BENINCASA, Savi ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant, i. 824. 



Monoecious. Flowers all solitary. Male : Calyx-tube campanulate ; 

 lobes 5, leafy, serrate. Corolla rotate, 5-partite ; lobes obovate. Fila- 

 ments free, inserted at the mouth of the calyx, short, flat,. thick; arithers 

 exserted, one 1-celled, two 2-celled ; cells very flexuous, bordering the 

 thick connective. Rudiment of ovary a glandule. Female fl. : Stami- 

 nodes 3. Ovary ovoid ; style stout, inserted in a disk ; stigmas 3, 

 wavy ; ovules very numerous on 3 placentas. Fruit an ovoid or cylin- 

 dric, thick, terete, soft, glaucous, hispid berry. Seeds numerous, ovoid- 

 oblong, flat, margin thickened. — An annual prostrate hairy herb, 

 branches stout. Lejaves orbicular-reniform, palmately 5-lobed ; petiole 

 eglandular. Tendrils 2-3-tid. Flowers large, yellow. Fruit large, 

 waxy externally. 



1. B. cerifera, Savi; Ser. in DC. Prod. iii. 303. Stems numerous 

 from the root, much branched, hispid or hirsute, several feet long. 

 Leaves softly tomentose, 4-6 in. long and broad, 5-9-angled, toothea, 



