36G ORDER GO. CRASSULACE.E. 



denticulate ; fls. 2 $ , the V on short peduncles ; fr. oval or subglabous, smootJi, 

 longitudinally torulous. (1) Native of Asia, whence it was first brought to Eng- 

 land iu 1570. Generally cultivated for the juicy, yellowish, delicately flavored 

 flesh of the mature fruit. Jn., Jl. Varieties numerous. 



3 C. Angina L. PRICKLY CUCUMBER. St. prostrate, slender, hispid ; ten- 

 drils simple ; Ivs. palmately and deeply sinuate-lobed, cordate at base ; fr. oval- 

 ovoid, or subglobous, echinate. Cultivated lor the green fruit, which is about 

 the size of a hen's egg, and used for pickles. Jl., Aug. \ Jamaica. 



4 C. Colooy-nthis L. COLOCYNTH. St. prostrate, subhippid ; Ivs. cordatc- 

 ovat % , cleft into many obtuse hbes, hairy-canescent beneath ; tendrils short ; fls. 

 axillary, pedunculate ; S with a globous, hispid cal. tube and campariulate limb, 

 with small petals ; fr. globous, yellow when ripe, about as large as an orange, 

 and intolerably bitter. The extract is the colocynth of the shops, poisonous, but 

 medicinal, f From Turkey. 



5 C. anguinus L. SERPENT CUCUMBER. Sts. climbing; Ivs. 3 to 5-lobed, 

 repand-dentate ; tendrils forked ; //. very lony. smooth, cylindrical, coiled. Culti- 

 vated for the curiosity of the long, snake-like fruit, f E. Ind. 



ORDER LIX. BEGONIACE^E. BEGONIADS. 



Herbs or succulent undershrubs with an acrid juice. Leaves alternate, oblique at 

 tbo base, with large, scarious stipules. Flowers diclinous, pink-colored, cymous- 

 Calyx adherent, colored. Sepals of the $ 2 pairs, decussating ; of the $ 5, imbri- 

 cated, or 8. Stamens CO, distinct or coherent i:a a column. Anthers clustered. 

 Ovary inferior, 3-celled, with 3 large placonta3 meeting in the axis. Seeds minute, 

 without albumen. Fruit capsular. (Fig. 270.) 



Gfnertt 4, upecien 160, mostly unlives of the Indies and S. America noneN. American. They 

 are frequently cultivated us curious and ornamental. Properties astringent und bitter. 



DIPLOCLIN'IUM, Lindl. ELEPHANT'S EARS. (Gr. di-rrXoo^, double, 

 7, couch ; alluding to the double placentae.) Fls. 8 < Sepals 

 orbicular, colored like the petals, but larger ; petals oblong, acute ; 

 stamens combined in n column; anthers iu a globous head. ? Sepals 

 3, lanceolate, larger than the 2 petals ; stigma lobes distinct, spiral, 

 erect ; capsule wings unequal ; placenta double, or 2 in each cell. 

 Evergreen, succulent undershrubs. 



D. Evansianum Lindl. Glabrous; st. branched, tumid and colored at the 

 joints, succulent; Ivs. large, slightly angular, mucronate-serrate, cordate-ovate, 

 very unequal at base, petiolate, with weak, scattered prickles, and straight, red 

 veins, tho under surface deeply reddened ; fU. pink-colored in all their parts, 

 except the golden yellow anthers and stigmas; S larger than the , and on 

 peduncles twice as long. From China. (Begonia discolor Willd.) Many other 

 species ere found in conservatories too many for our limits. 



ORDER LX. CRASSULACEyE. HOUSE-LEEKS. 



Plants herbaceous or shrubby, succulent. Lrs. entire or pinnntifid. Slip. 0. 

 flowers sessile, usually in cymes and perfectly symmetrical. S<pa>s 3 to 20, more 

 or less united at base, persistent. Petals as many as the sepals, distinct, rarely co- 

 hering. Stamens as many as tho petals, and alternating with them, : or twice as 

 many. Ovary as many as the petals and opposite them. Fil. distinct Anth. 

 "2-celled, bursting lengthwise. Fruit, follicles as many as the ovaries, each open- 

 Ing by tho ventral suture, many-seeded. (Figs. 260, 261.) 



Gne-n 22. xpe.cies 450, chiefly natives of the wanner rceions of the plobe, jmrticularly the 

 Cape o!' Good Hope. About 20 are found in N. America. They prow in the thiniu-st and driest 

 soil, on niikrd rocks, sandy deserts, etc. They have no peculiar property except a slight acrid- 

 ity. Many arc highly ornaiiieiit.il. 



