Jjuffa.~\ LXV. CUCURBITACE^. (C. B. Clarke.) 615 



Extensively climbing hairy ; tendrils 2-3-fid. Leaves 4 in. dial!., reniform- 

 orbicular, 5-angled or somewhat 5-lobed, dentate, usually scabrous, punctate on both 

 surfaces, pubescent on the nerves beneath ; petiole 2 in. Male peduncle^ ^n., flowers 

 often approximate near the sumiait; pedicels short, each carrying a sma.ll ovate 

 viscid entire bract sometimes obsolete. Petals 5, f-1 in., yellow, ofteji%rtkte}evated 

 hairy green 1%ins. Stamens 5. Female flower solitary, peduncle 1-3. A\? Fruit 

 5-12 in. Seeds ^ by nearly in., usually black, very narrowly winged, -smodth or 

 very sparingly tubfrcled. The pedicels are rarely elongated ULSatpatia, Wall.); 

 one example of Faldoner's has the racemes compound. The JRHt being the part 

 eaten and attended to in cultivatidn is hence very variable : ancrno gfcod character 

 founded on it can be drawn between this species and L. acutangula. 'T 



** Stamens 3. 



3. Zi. acutangula, Roxb. FL Ind. iii. 713 ; fruit elongate 10-angled 

 not covered by spines or papillae. ^ DC. Prodr. iii. 302 ; Wall Cat. 6759 ; 

 Hook. f. in Oliv. Fl. Trop. Afn. ii. 530, excl. syn. ; Kurz in Journ. As. Soc. 

 1877, pt. ii. 101, exd. many syn. Cucumis acutangulus, Wall. Cat. 6736. 



NORTH-WEST INDIA ; Royle. SIKKIM ; J. D. H. ASSAM ; Masters. Plain of EAST 

 BENGAL; C. B.Clarke. CEYLON; Thwaites. DISTRIB. Malaya. 



Very near L. pentandya from which it differs by having 3 stamens as noted by Rox- 

 burgh and verified by Thwaites. The fruit is usually smaller, often only 3-4 in. 

 The figure of L. fcetida in Cav. Ic. i. t. 9, shows clearly 5 stamens and is not 

 Roxburgh's plant. Rheede Hort. Mai. viii. t. 7, is much more probably L. cegyptiaca 

 , than this species. L. acutangula No. 1106 in Herb. Wight is peritandrous and is 

 L. csgyptiaca exactly. All these, and all descriptions founded on them, are not here 

 included in L. acutangula, Roxb. 



VAR. amara, Roxb. FL Ind. iii. 715 (sp.) ; fruit oblong 10-angled without spines 

 or papillae. Wall. Cat. 6754 A; W. A. Prodr. 343 ; Dalz. $ Gibs. Bomb. Fl. 102; 

 Naud. in Ann. Sc. Nat. ser. 4, xii. 123. L. Plukenetiana, DC. Prodr. iii. 302. 

 Momordica tubiflora, Wall. Cat. 6749. From nearly all India especially the Western 

 side. Naudin, who retains L. amara as a species, says it is " exceedingly near L. 

 acutangula but distinguished by the leaves a little smaller and sometimes whitish." 

 The typical L. amara has the leaves softly pubescent at least while young, for they 

 become in age scabrous. 



4. L. echinata, Roxb. Hort. Beng. 104 ; Fl. Ind. iii. 716 ; fruit ellip- 

 soid densely covered with bristles. Wall. Cat. 6756 ; W. $ A. Prodr. 343 ; 

 Dalz. 8f Gibs. Bomb. FL 102 ; Kurz in Journ. 'As. Soc. 1877, pt. ii. 101. L. 



- Bindaal, Roxb. Hort. Beng. 104 ; Fl. Ind. iii. 717. 



GTJJERAT ; Dalzell. SCINDE ; Stocks. PURNEA?H (Bengal) ; jLurz. DACCA ; C. B. 

 Clarke. DISTMB. Tropical Africa. 



Climbing not extensively, sparingly scabrous-pilose; tendrils 2-fid. Leaves 1-2 in. 

 diam., cordate, reniform-orbicular, entire or obscurely 5-angular or 5-lobed, or cut 

 almost to the base into 5 narrow sinuate-pinnatifid segments, dentate ; petiole 

 1-2 in. Male peduncles normally paired, one 1-flowered the other racemed very 

 long 6 in. or more, pedicels 1 in. ; flowers small, white, without bracts. Filaments 3, 

 two with 2-celled anthers. Peduncle of the solitary female very short. Fruit l by 

 in., ribs not visible; spines ^ in., ciliate; stopple without spines, calyx-teeth per- 

 sistent. Seeds \ in., many, slightly scabrous. 



VAR. longistylis, Edgw. in Journ. As. Soc. 1852, p. 270 (sp.) ; male raceme shorter 

 than the leaves, spines of the fruit fewer themselves glabrous. Banda, Edgeworth. 

 The leaves are not more dissected than in some Bengal typical L. echinata, nor are 

 the styles longer. The whole male raceme is much shorter than the accompanying 

 1-flowered male peduncle. 



