32 PL/mTS OF BERMUDA. 



' ' There a small grain in some few months will be 



A firm, a lofty, and a spacious tree. 



The palma-christi, and the fair papaw, 



Now but a seed (preventing nature's la.w) 



In half the circle of the hasty year 



Project a shade, and lovely fruits do wear." 



Nat : Ord : 30 Fassi/loracece . 



Climbling vines with axillary tendrils and leafy stipules ; calyx 

 five-parted, with a fringe of slender rays arising from its throat and 

 forming a crown ; x^etals inserted into calyx-tube or none ; stamens 

 four to five, their filaments united together ; ovary superior stalked, 

 one-celled; styles three to four spreading. Fruit a many-seeded 

 berry. 



Two species of passion flower are favorites in gardens, Tassiflora 

 coirulea and F. laurifolia, the former for the beauty of its transient 

 flowers, and the latter for its fruit (the water lemon) . 



I. PASSIFLORA. 



1. P. Ilinima (Wild Passion Flower). Eoot perennial? Stem 

 wiry, its bark becoming corky ; leaves from one to two inches, 

 glossy, ovate, entire or three-lobed, lobes oblong ; petiole with two 

 small stalked glands above the middle. Flowers axillary in pairs ; 

 calyx five-partite, aiigular at base ; Petals none ; fringe purple and 

 yellow ; stamens five, cohering round stalk of ovary then spreading ; 

 styles, three, club-shaped, spreading ; berry obovate, quarter to 

 one-half inch long, pur^^le, insipid. Distribution, West Indies ; 

 habitat, roadside walls and banks, Salt Kettle to lighthouse, 

 common. Flov/ers greenish yellow, hajf-inch diameter ; March to 

 September. 



Kai : Ord : 31 Cacurhitacece. 



Succulent vines, prostrate or climbing by means of tendrils and 

 usiially with the sexes in different flowers. Stems and leaves covered 

 with rough hairs ; calyx adhering to the ovar}^, five-toothed ; 

 corolla five-parted, inserted on calyx ; stamens (in the male) five, 

 sometimes cohering into three parcels ; ovary (in the female) inferior, 

 three -celled; style short; stigmas distinct, thick, velvety; fruit 

 fleshy. Succulent, seeds many, large, flat. 



Although this order contributes no indigenous or wild plants to 

 our list, it is a very important one, containing as it does our most 

 popular summer fruits and vegetables. The musk melon {Cucumis 

 mclo) and the water melon {CilruUm vulgaris) in many varieties are 

 largely cultivated in hot months when their cooling properties 

 render them very grateful and acceptable. The pumpkin {Cucumis 

 pcpo) and its varieties, the marrow and squash are at the same 

 season allowed to run over "the cultivated ground ; while in Spring 

 the cucumber [Cucumis saiivns) thrives well. It should, however, 

 not be forgotten that all the above require either the agency of 

 insects or artificial fertilization, and the larger introduction of bees 

 could hardly fail to be beneficial in setting the fruit and making the 

 vines more productive. 



