196 CUCIJRBITACE^. (gOURD FAMILY.) 



3. CYCLANTHERA, Schrad. 



Flowers monoecious. Corolla rotate, deeply 5 parted. Stamens united into 

 a central column, the anther solitary in our species and annular. Ovary (1 -3) 

 usually 2-celled and 4-locellate with 4 erect or ascending ovules. Fruit spiny, 

 obliquely ovoid and gibbous, beaked, bursting irregularly. Seeds flattened. 

 — Slender glabrous climbing annuals or perennials, Avith very small racemose 

 or panicled white sterile flowers and a solitary fertile one in the same axil. 

 (Name from kvk\os, a circle, and avdi}pa, anther.) 



1. C. dissecta, Arn. Annual; leaves digitately 3 - 7-foliolate, the oblong 

 divisions somewhat lobed or toothed ; tendrils simple or bifid ; fruit 1' long, ou 

 a short peduncle. — Central Kan. to Tex. and Mex. 



4. MELOTHRIA, L. 



Flowers polygamous or monoecious ; the sterile campanulate, the corolla .5- 

 lobed ; the fertile with the calyx-tube constricted above the ovary, then cam- 

 panulate. Anthers more or less united. Berry small, pulpy, filled Avith many 

 flat and horizontal seeds. — Tendrils simple. Flowers very small. (Altered 

 from ixT]X(aQpov, an ancient name for a sort of white grape.) 



1. M. pendula, L. Slender, from a perennial root, climbing; leaves 

 small, roundish and heart-shaped, 5-angled or lobed, roughish ; sterile flowers 

 few in small racemes ; the fertile solitary, greenish or yellowish ; berry oval, 

 green, 4-6" long. — Copses, Va. to Fla., west to S. Ind. and La. 



5. CUCURBITA, L. 



Flowers monoecious, mostly solitary. Calyx-tube campanulate ; corolla cam- 

 panulate, 5-lobed to the middle. Filaments distinct; anthers linear, united, 

 sigmoid. Ovary oblong, with short thick style, 3-5 2-lobed stigmas, and 3-5 

 parietal placentas , ovules numerous, horizontal. Fruit smooth, fleshy with a 

 hard rind, indehiscent. — Prostrate scabrous vines, rooting at the joints, with 

 large yellow flowers and large fruit. (The Latin name for the Gourd.) 



1. C. fOBtidissima, HBK. Root very large, fusiform; leaves thick, 

 triangular-cordate; flowers 3 -4' long; fruit globose or obovoid, 2-3' in di- 

 ameter. (C. perennis. Gray.) — Central Neb. to Tex., and westward. 



Order 4G. CACTACE^. (Cactus Family.) 



Fleshy and thickened mostly leafless plants, of pecidiar aspect, globular 

 or columnar and many-angled, or flattened and jointed, usually with prickles. 

 Flowers solitary, sessile ; the sepcds and petals numerous, imbricated in sev- 

 eral rows, the bases adherent to the 1-celled ovary. — Stamens numerous, 

 with long and slender filaments, inserted on the inside of the tube or cup 

 formed by the union of the sepals and petals. Style 1 ; stigmas numerous. 

 Fruit a 1-celled berry, with numerous campylotropous seeds on several 

 parietal placentae. 



1. Mamillaria. Globose or oval plants, covered with spine-bearing tubercles. Flowers 



from between the tubercles. Ovary naked ; berry succulent 



2. Opuntia. Branching or jointed plants , the joints flattened or cylindrical. 



