CUCURBITACEjE. XIII. NEUROSPERMA. XIV. SECHIOM. XV. MELOTIIRIA. XVI. TRICIIOSANTHES. 



37 



22 M. LANA'TA (Thunb. prod. 13.) leaves ternately pinna- 

 tifid, scabrous; fruit woolly. Q. F. Native of the Cape of 

 Good Hope. 



Woolly-fruited Momordica. PI. cl. 



23 M. ? SICYOIDES (Ser. in D. C. prod. 3. p. 312.) stems twin- 

 ing, terete ; tendrils simple ; leaves triangularly cordate, some- 

 what 5-lobed, serrulated ; female flowers pedunculate, solitary ; 



'calyx ovate, pilose, with narrow linear segments ; fruit ovate 

 mucronate, very pilose, of a yellowish orange-colour at matu- 

 rity ; seeds subglobose. O- F. Native of China Braan. icon, 

 chin. t. 12. 



Sicyos-like Momordica. PI. tw. 



24 M. SPICA'TA (Lin. mss. ex Smith in Rees' cycl. vol. 23.) 

 stems furrowed, rugged ; leaves cordate, 3-5-lobed, undulated, 

 rugged from tubercles ; male flowers racemose ; racemes on long 

 peduncles ; tube of calyx very long ; bracteas dilated, toothed, 

 scabrous ; female flowers solitary, on short peduncles ; seeds 

 elliptic, furrowed, hispid. O- F. Native country unknown. 



iS/.z&e-flowered Momordica. PI. cl. 



Cult. M. Elaterium and M. Lamberliana being hardy, their 

 seeds should be sown in the open border. The seeds of the 

 rest of the species should be sown on a hot-bed in spring, and 

 the plants planted out afterwards as directed for Gourds, p. 42. 



XIII. NEUROSPE'RMA (from vtvpov, neuron, a nerve, 

 and <7Wpfj.a, sperma, a seed ; in reference to the seeds, which are 

 reticulated with anastomosing nerves). Rafin. in journ. phys. 

 et chim. 1819. p. 101. Spreng. neue. entd. 1. p. 144. D. C. 

 prod. 3. p. 312. 



LIN. SYST. Monce'cia, Monadelphia. Flowers monoecious. 

 Male flowers with a 5-parted calyx : and a 5-parted corolla, 

 having an undulated erose margin. Stamens 5, diadelphous, 

 having a gland alternating with each fascicle ; one of the fascicles 

 bearing 2 anthers, the other trigonal, and bearing 3 anthers. 

 Anthers sessile, stellate. Female flowers with a parted corolla 

 and calyx. Ovarium inferior, beset with 8 series of warts. 

 Style trifid, girded by 3 glands at the base ; stigmas 2-lobed. 

 Fruit fleshy, 3-celled, but when mature 1-celled, 3-9-seeded. 

 Seeds girded by mucilaginous red aiil, flat, nerved, with anasto- 

 mosing veins, and a rugged edge. Perhaps a proper genus. 



1 N. CUSPIDA'TA (Rafin. 1. c.) Native of Kentucky, North 

 America. Perhaps the same as Momordica balsamea ? 



Cuspidate Neurosperma. PI. tr. 



Cult. See Sicyos p. 34. for culture and propagation. 



XIV. SE'CHIUM (from atKi'^o, sekiso, to fatten ; given to 

 hogs for that purpose). Browne in Lin. gen. no. 1482. Juss. 

 gen. p. 391. Lam. diet. 7. p. 50. D. C. prod. 3. p. 313. 



LIN. SYST. Monaecla, Monadelphia. Flowers monoecious, 

 yellow. Male flowers with a somewhat 5-toothed calyx, exca- 

 vated into 10 hollows, and with the corolla joined with the calyx. 

 Stamens 4-5, monadelphous, free at the apex, diverging ; anthers 

 cordate, distant. Female flowers with a calyx and corolla, as 

 in the male, but without stamens. Style thick ; stigma sub- 

 capitate, 3-5-cleft. Fruit obcordate, 1-seeded. Seed ovate, 

 flat, compressed. 



1 S. EDU'LE (Swartz, fl. ind. occid. 2. p. 11 50.) stems terete, 

 striated, smooth ; leaves cordate, angular, rugged beneath ; lobes 

 conniving at the base, toothed ; terminal angle longest and acu- 

 minated ; tendrils 4-5 cleft ; male flowers racemose ; female 

 flowers solitary, rising from the same axils as the males ; fruit 

 large, obovate, 5-furrowed, gibbous at the apex, echinated by 

 stiff' hairs. Q. F. Native of the West Indies, common. 

 Sicyos edulis, Swartz, prod. 116. Lam. diet. 1. p. 156 Jacq. 

 amer. p. 258. t. 163. Chayota edulis, Jacq. amer. 2. t. 245. 

 This plant is known in South America under the name of choko 

 and chaiotc. The fruit is green, shining on the outside, whitish, 



and fleshy within, differing in size and singular in structure, con- 

 taining one seed each, which is sometimes an inch long, and placed 

 at the very top of the fruit ; when it is ripe it protrudes itself a 

 little, and puts forth many fibres at its extremity. In many of the 

 West Indies the inhabitants put the fruit into soups or puddings, 

 or boil it and eat it with their meat as a substitute for turnips 

 or greens, in which state it is generally looked upon as whole- 

 some and refreshing, but it is too insipid to be much liked. The 

 fruit serves to fatten hogs in the mountains and inland parts of 

 Jamaica, where the plant is much cultivated. The natives of 

 Cuba notice two varieties ; one which is most common they 

 call simply chayote : it is beset with harmless prickles, some- 

 times in great abundance, and sometimes with very few, and is 

 about 4 inches in length ; the other, less frequent, called chayote 

 f ranees, is for the most part entirely destitute of prickles, and is 

 about the size of a hen's egg. 



Eatable Choko. Fl. July, Aug. Clt. 1816. PI. cl. 



2 S. AMERICA' NUM (Lam. diet. 7. p. 50.) leaves cordate, an- 

 gular ; flowers racemose ; fruit glabrous, a little compressed, 

 size of a pigeon's egg; seed oval-elliptic. O- F. Native of 

 Jamaica. Fruit eatable like the last. This is perhaps the 

 chayote frances mentioned above. 



American Choko. PI. cl. 



3 S. PALMA'TUM (Ser. in D. C. prod. 3. p. 313.) stems terete, 

 bluntly furrowed ; tendrils umbellate ; leaves palmately lobed, 

 scabrous ; stipula or bractea sessile, cordate, deeply 3-lobed ; 

 male flowers racemose; common peduncle short, many-flowered; 

 filaments monadelphous at the base, and divaricate towards the 

 apex ; female flowers twin, nearly sessile ; fruit prickly, green, 

 size of a filbert. O- F. Native of Mexico, in Acahualtempa. 

 S. palmatum, Moc. et Sesse, fl. mex. icon. ined. 



Palmate-leaved Choko. PI. cl. 



Cull. See Cucitrbita, p. 42. for culture and propagation. 



XV. MELO'THRIA (peXoSpov of Theophrastus, supposed 

 to be Bryony). Lin. gen. no. 68. Juss. gen. p. 395. D. C. prod. 

 3. p. 313. Trichosanthes species of Jacq. 



LIN. SYST. Monce'cia, Polyadelphia. Flowers monoecious. 

 Male flowers with a 5-toothed calyx and a campanulate corolla ; 

 petals ciliated or toothed, not fringed. Filaments 5, in 3 parcels. 

 Female flowers. Style 1 ; stigmas 3, fringed. Fruit 3-celled, 

 many-seeded. Seeds unknown. 



1 M. PE'NDULA (Lin. spec. p. 49.) leaves cordate, 5-lobed, 

 toothed ; tendrils simple ; female flowers solitary, on long pe- 

 duncles ; corolla rather pilose, denticulated ; fruit ovate, nearly 

 globose, pendulous. If. . S. Native of South America, and the 

 southern parts of North America. Lam. ill. t. 28. f. 3. Pluk. 

 aim. t. 85. f. 5. Sloan, jam. p. 227. t. 142. f. 1. -Plum. spec. 

 3. t. 66. f. 2. Stems rooting at every joint. Flowers small, 

 pale yellow. Fruit about the size of a pea, changing to black 

 when ripe. In the West Indies these are pickled when green by 

 the inhabitants. 



Pendulous-fruited. Melothria. Fl.Ju.Sept. Clt. 1752. PI. cr. 



2 M. FOZ'TIDA (Desr. in Lam. diet. 4. p. 87.) root fleshy, tur- 

 nip-formed ; leaves cordate, a little toothed, pilose, almost ses- 

 sile ; tendrils simple ; male flowers racemose ; peduncles short, 

 few-flowered ; female flowers solitary, sessile along with the 

 males ; fruit ovate, muricated, mucronate, pilose, of a dirty yellow- 

 colour ; seeds obovate, compressed. Tj.. S. Native of Guinea. 

 Trichosanthes fcetidissima, Jacq. coll. 2. p. 341. icon. rar. 3. t. 

 624. Flowers yellow. Herb fetid when bruised. 



Fetid Melothria. Fl. June, Sept. Clt. 1820. PI. cl. 



3 M. ? I'NDICA (Lour. coch. p. 35.) stems angular ; leaves 

 triangular, denticulated, rough, small, on long petioles ; flowers 

 usually solitary, pedunculate, white ; fruit ovate-oblong, smooth, 

 small, whitish green. Tf.. S. Native of Cochin-china, in hedges. 

 Rumph. amb. 5. t. 171. f. 2. ex Lour. 1. c. Flowers white. 



