112 SICYOS ANGULATUS, STAR-CUCUMBER. 



it under these circumstances and note how rapidly it grows, and 

 transforms what was unpleasant into a picturesque and often 

 beautiful scene. The rapidity of its growth already referred to 

 will always make it a subject of interesting study. The plant 

 from which our illustration was taken sprouted from a seed in 

 May, and before frost had rambled over bushes some thirty feet 

 away. It had many hundreds of branches. An estimate was 

 formed of their number, and it was found that if these branches 

 were placed end to end they would make a line of two thousand 

 feet ! Many of the lower leaves die as the growth progresses, 

 but the calculation gave about one hundred square feet of leaf- 

 surface on the vine at one time, from which an immense amount 

 of moisture must be exhaled during the twenty-four hours. The 

 stem at the ground is no thicker than a lead-pencil, and the 

 reader can imagine how rapid must be the flow of water through 

 this narrow stem in order to supply the enormous exhalation. 

 We look with wonder on the mammoth tree of California and 

 similar vegetable productions, — but not less wonderful are the 

 facts of plant-growth everywhere about us, and in few things are 

 they more strikingly illustrated than in the growth of the star- 

 cucumber. 



It grows in most of the states east of the Rocky Mountains, 

 except the extreme northeast and northwest portions. 



