Momordica.] lxiv. cucurbitace^e (hooker). 537 



Mozamb. Distr. Sharao on the Shire, Dr. Kirk! with excellent analysis^ 

 The horizontal buds, gibbous calyx-tube and oblique flowers are perhaps unique in 

 the Order. 



5. M. trifoliolata, Hook. f. n. sp. Glabrous. Stem angular and 

 grooved, slender, wiry. Leaves very shortly petioled, 3-foliolate ; 

 leaflets petioled, 1 in. long-, ovate, obtuse, apiculate, rarely lobed, 

 rounded or cordate at the base, obscurely distantly serrate, rather coria- 

 ceous, minutely granulate on both surfaces when dry ; petioles { in. 

 Tendrils simple. Male fl. : Irregularly racemose ; peduncles as long 

 as or longer than the leaves ; pedicels very variable, spreading, with 

 subulate bracts at their bases and an orbicular small bracteole at the 

 apex appressed to each flower. Calyx-tube hemispheric, lobes subor- 

 bicular, obtuse. Corolla 1 in. in diameter, yellow. Anther-cells flexu- 

 ous. Female fl. : unknown. — Momordica sp., Thomson in Speke and 

 Grant's Travels, Appendix p. 635. 



Mozamb. Distr. Zungomero, lat. 7° 27' S., Grant ! 



6. M. Balsamina, Linn. ; Ser. in DC. Prod. iii. 311. Monoecious; 

 glabrous or young* parts slightly pubescent. Stem very slender. 

 Leaves membranous, 1J-3J in. in diameter, orbicular, palmately 3-5- 

 lobed to about the middle, lobes rhomboid, deeply acutely lobulate ; 

 basal sinus deep and broad. Tendrils simple. Male fl. : Peduncle 

 longer than the leaf, bract towards its apex, 1 -flowered, green, or- 

 bicular-cordate or reniform, almost entire. Calyx-lobes thin, ovate, 

 acuminate. Corolla irregular, yellow or white, centre black, \-l in. 

 in diameter. Anther-cells flexuous ; connective broad. Female fl. : 

 Peduncle ^ in. long ; bract or basal. Calyx-lobes narrower. Ovary 

 fusiform, beaked, warted. Fruit broadly ovoid, narrowed into the pe- 

 duncle, beaked, smooth, red, fleshy, 1-3 in. long ; seeds many, pale 

 brown, ^ in. long, broadly oblong, flattened ; edges broad, tubercular, 

 grooved, teeth crustaceous. — A. Rich. Fl. Abyss, i. 291 ; Naud. in Ann. 

 Sc. Nat. ser. 5, v. 21. 



Upper Guinea. (Cape de Verd, Brunner ! Hence probably all Senegambia.) 



Nile Land. Nubia, KoUchyl Schweinfurth ! Abyssinia, Petit. 



An abundant Asiatic and South African plant, found also in Australia, and in culti- 

 vation in America. 



The closely allied Natal M. involucrata, which has broad obtuse calyx-lobes, has not 

 been collected hitherto in Tropical Africa. 



7. M. Charantia, Linn. ; Naud. in Ann. Soc. Nat. ser. 4, xii. 131. 

 Monoecious ; glabrous or pubescent-pilose. Stem very slender. Leaves 

 1-4 in. in diameter, membranous, reniform-orbicular, pedately 5-7- 

 lobed to near the base, basal sinus broad, lobes oblong lanceolate or 

 rhomboid, often much contracted at the base, obtusely sinuate or lobu- 

 late. Tendrils simple. Male peduncle 1-5 in., very slender; bract 

 about the middle, reniform or orbicular-cordate, green, quite entire. 

 Calyx-lobes ovate, acute. Corolla irregular, J-1J in. in diameter, 

 yellow. Anthers flexuous, connective narrow. Female peduncle 

 slender, 1-6 in., bracteate towards the base. Ovary fusiform, rostrate, 



VOL. II. s 



