544 lxiv. cucurbitacejE (hooker). 



nial. Stem slender, angled ; petioles and peduncles scabrid with stiff 

 white prickles. Leaves very variable, coriaceous, very scabrid, 1-2 in. 

 in diameter, generally longer than broad, 3-7-lobed to or below the 

 middle, sinus dilated and rounded at the base ; lobes obovate, acutely 

 toothed, rounded or acute ; petioles rather short. Tendrils short, 

 rather stiff. Male fl. : Calyx hispid. Anthers with long projecting 

 gland-tipped connectives, obscurely ciliate. Female fl. : Stigmas ses- 

 sile, oblong-obcordate. Ovary densely clothed with stiff, short, conic, 

 rigid setse, each with a transparent pungent tip. Fruit l^in. long, 

 broadly ovoid, yellow, densely clothed with soft spines J in. long. 

 Seeds small, I in. long, elliptic -oblong, smooth, white or pale brown, 

 without thickened margins or depressed disk. — C. Jicifolius, A. Rich. 

 Fl. Abyss, i. 294, t. 53 Ms, et C. abyssinicus, A. Rich. I.e. ex Naudin. 

 ? C. chrysocomus, Schum. et Thonn. PI. Guin. 427. 



Nile Land. Abyssinia, Quart in- Dillon, Petit ! 



Lower Guinea. Loanda, on sandy sea-shores, Dr. Wtlwitsch! 



IVIozamb. Distr. Above Senna, Dr. Kirk! 



Welwitsch's specimens have more scattered spines than Kirk's, or the Abyssinian, 

 or than Natal ones grown in the Paris garden. Welwitsch describes the plant as an 

 annual, and the fruit as tasting of cucumber; Naudin, as bitter. The latter describes 5 

 forms : a. jicifolius (Abyssinia and Arabia), with leaves like those of Ficvs Carica. long 

 female peduncles and scattered tubercles, rarely spines on the fruit, b. micrcphyllus 

 (Abyssinia), smaller, leaves of f6rm and colour of C. Prophetarum, fruit shortly peduncled, 

 muricate, or obscurely tubercled. c. cyrtopodus, n. sp (Abyssinia), leaves villous-hispid, 

 ovary on short slender peduncle, clothed with fine hairs ; unripe fruit hardly muricate. 

 d. echinophorus (Arabia), leaves of a, but ashy white, female flower very small, fruit 

 covered with long spines, peduncle long, slender c. dwectus (Abyssinia), leaves 

 divided nearly to the base into narrow lobes, peduncle and fruit of d. 



5. C. pustulatus, Hook. f. (<7. Figarci var. pustulatus, Naud. ms.?) 

 Perennial. Hoary and scabrid. Stem rather stout, angled, rigid, 

 beset with short white prickles. Leaves J-2 in. in diameter, coriace- 

 ous, very variable, oblong rounded or cordate, subentire or more or 

 less deeply 3-5-lobed, lobes obtuse, quite entire or toothed ; petioles 

 rather short. Tendrils short, rather rigid. Male fl. : Calyx cam- 

 panulate, shortly scabrid. Connective shortly produced into a broad 

 glandular appendage. Female fl. : Ovary covered with short stout 

 prickles. Fruit on very stout peduncles, 1 J-3 in. long, broadly ovoid, 

 rounded at both ends, covered with scattered, thick, conical tubercles 

 or spines. Seeds small, \ in., whitish, smooth, elliptic-oblong, with- 

 out thickened border or depressed disk. — C. abyssinicus, Schimp. Hb. 

 Abyss, n. 412. (1853 ex. herb. Mus. Par.) in A. Rich. Fl. Abyss, i. 

 294. ? Cucumis striatus, A. Rich. I.e. 295. 



North Central. Kouka, Yogel! 



Nile Land. Abyssinia, Both! Schimper! n. 835 -(1863-8). 



I refer here a plant diffeiing remarkably from C. Prophetarum in the large size and 

 stout processes of the fruit, and in its very stout peduncle. One of the Abyssinian spe- 

 cimens, which has fruit 3 in. long, is labelled in Herb. Hook. C. Figarei, Del.; and 

 another, with fruit 1^ in., is mentioned as C. Prophetarum by Naudin in Ann. Sc. Nat. 

 (ser. 4. xi. 16.) I assume Naudin's C Figarei, var. pustulatus to be the same; it is 

 a large-leaved form, cultivated in the Jardin des Plantes,.of which I have seen no fruit. 

 I gathered C. pustulatus at Aden in 1847 and 1851. The fruit of the Aden specimen 

 is scabrid as well as aculeate, which is not the case in others from Arabia Petraea. 



