.] LXIV. CUCURBITACEiE (HOOKER). 555 



obtuse. Filaments 3, connate ? anthers connate into a globose head, 

 cells conduplicate. Female fl. : Staminodes 3, large, sessile, globose. 

 Ovary ovoid, glabrous ; style columnar ; stigmas 3, large, obcordate, 

 2-lobed ; ovules numerous on 3 placentas. Fruit globose, fleshy. 

 Seeds many, ovate, compressed, smooth, margins obtuse ; testa coria- 

 ceous. — A glabrous, climbing, slender African shrub. Leaves young 

 ovate, adult palmately 5-lobed, membranous. Tendrils 2-3-fid, stout. 

 Flowers in short, strict, stout, axillary spikes, small or middling- sized, 

 yellow. 



I suspect that this genus will merge into Physedra ; the specimens are very imper- 

 fect, and owing to their texture and colour difficult of analysis. 



1. S. Barteri, Book. f. I.e. Climbing, 15-20 ft. Stem terete. 

 Leaves variable, short-petioled, dark green or brown when dry, upper 

 entire, coarsely sinuate-toothed, 4 in. long, lower broader, palmately 

 3-5-lobed, deeply cordate at the base, lobes oblong, upper surface of 

 the old leaves densely covered with white papillae. Spikes many- 

 flowered, stout, 1 in. long, strict, puberulous, with short fleshy ? per- 

 sistent, glandular bracteoles at the base of the very short racemed 

 pedicels. Flowers about J in. diameter. Fruit 3-4 in. diameter, 

 fleshy. Seeds J in. long. 



Upper Guinea. Fernando Po and Nupe on the Niger, Barter I 



24. CUCURBITA, Linn. ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant, i. 828. 



Monoecious. Flowers all solitary. Male : Calyx-tube campanu- 

 late, lobes simple or foliaceous. Corolla campanuiate, 5-lobed to or 

 below the middle ; lobes recurved at the apex. Filaments 3, free, in- 

 serted at the base of the calyx; anthers connate, one 1 -celled, two 

 2-celled, cells elongate, conduplicate. Rudiment of ovary 0. Female fl. : 

 Staminodes 3. Ovary oblong ; style short, stigmas 3, 2-lobed ; ovules 

 numerous, on 3 placentas. Fruit fleshy. Seeds many, ovate or oblong, 

 flattened, margined or not. — Annual or perennial-rooted tropical herbs ; 

 branches usually prostrate and rooting. Leaves lobed, cordate at the 

 base. Tendrils 2-multifid. Flowers large, yellow. Fruit large. 



The gourds and pumpkins are commonly cultivated, and very variable and difficult to 

 distinguish by dry specimens. I have adopted here Naudin's characters, which were 

 carefully drawn from a multitude of cultivated specimens of all the forms of each 

 species. 



Leaves not deeply lobed ; petioles scarcely prickly ; calyx-lobes 



subulate . . 1. C. maxima. 



Leaves deeply lobed ; petioles prickly ; calyx-lobes subulate ... 2. C. Pepo. 



Leaves more or less lobed ; petioles scarcely prickly ; calyx-lobes 



foliaceous 3. C. mosclmta. 



1. C. maxima, Duchesne; Naud. in Ann. 8c. Nat. ser. 4, vi. 17. 

 Annual. Stems subterete. Leaves large, reniform, 5-lobed, lobes 

 rounded, sinus shallow or 0; hairs of petiole equal, rough, not pun- 

 gent. Flowering peduncles terete. Calyx- tube obconic, not contracted 

 under the campanuiate corolla; teeth linear filiform or undeveloped. 



