556 LXIV. CUCURBITACE.E (HOOKER). [CuCUrUta 



Fruiting peduncle stout, corky, striate, not grooved. Fruit with 

 scarcely fibrous pulp. Seeds white. — A. Rich. Fl. Abyss, i. 295. 



Upper Guinea. Nupe on the Niger, apparently indigenous, Barter I 

 Nile Land. Grant. Abyssinia, &c., cultivated, Schweinfurth ! 

 Lower Guinea. Angola, &c, Dr. Wtlwitsch. 



This, the common gourd, is no doubt cultivated throughout Africa, under various 

 forms. 



2. C. Pepo, DC; Naudin.l.c. 29. Annual. Stem creeping, rarely 

 erect, angular and grooved. Leaves 5-lobed, with a deep basal sinus, 

 lobes acute, often lobulate ; petioles and nerves beneath prickly. Pe- 

 duncles obtusely 5-angled. Calyx of male fl. campanulate, constricted 

 beneath the corolla, teeth subulate. Fruiting peduncle often woody, 

 angled and deeply grooved. Fruit with fibrous flesh. Seeds white. 



Nile Land. Cultivated in Abyssinia, Schweinfurth I 

 Lower Guinea. Angola, Dr. Welwitschl 

 The Pumpkin, cultivated in all hot countries. 



3. C. moschata, Duchesne ; Naud. I.e. 47. Annual. Stem creeping, 

 subterete. Leaves soft, velvety, deep green often marbled with white, 

 renifbrm,. toothed, 5-7-lobed, lobes and sinus acute or rounded, petiole 

 and nerves beneath never prickly. Peduncle of male fl. hirsute, sub- 

 terete. Calyx-tube very short or j lobes linear, flat, often foliaceous. 

 Female fl. : Peduncles 5-angled. Fruit glaucous, pulverulent ; pulp 

 scarcely fibrous. Seeds white. 



Nile Land. Abyssinia, cultivated, Schweinfurth I 



I have seen no African specimens ; but cannot doubt that so common a plant occurs 

 abundantly cultivated. 



I find seeds of the black-seeded gourd (C. melanosperma, Braun, Naud. 1. c. 53), in 

 Dr. Welwitsch's collection, from specimens recently introduced at Mossamedes. 



25. BRYONOPSIS, Am. in Hook. Journ. Bot. ili. 274. 



Flowers monoecious. Male : Solitary or fascicled on capillary pedi- 

 cels. Calyx-tube campanulate, lobes 5, subulate. Corolla campa- 

 nulate, 5-fid. Filaments 3, short, free, inserted within the calyx-tube ; 

 anthers cohering, one 1 -celled, two 2-celled ; cells flexuous round the 

 broad connective which is not produced at the apex. Rudiment of ovary 

 0. Female fl. : Shortly peduncled, few or solitary in the same axil with 

 the male. Calyx-limb contracted at the base. Staminodes 5, linear. 

 Ovary ovoid ; style slendeT, not inserted in a disk, 3-fid ; stigmas broad- 

 obcordate ; ovules numerous, on 3 placentas. Berry globose, soft. Seeds 

 many, subpyriform, very turgid, surrounded by a very thick raised 

 grooved crenulate ring on each side of which the tumid faces of the 

 seed project; testa hard. — A perennial-rooted subglabrous slender 

 scandent herb. Leaves 5-7-lobed, cordate at the base. Tendrils 2-fid. 

 Flowers small, yellow. Fruit small. 



1. B. laciniosa, Artwtt, I.e. Glabrous or slightly hairy. Stems 

 much branched and leafy. Leaves very membranous, 5-7 in. broad, 



