138 PASSIFLORACE^E. (PASSION-FLOWER FAMILY.) 



ORDER 47. PASSIFLORACE^E. (PASSION-FLOWER FAM.) 



Vines, climbing by tendrils, with perfect flowers, 5 monadelphous stamens^ 

 and a stalked l-celled ovary free from flie calyx, with 3 or 4 parietal placen- 

 tae, and as many club-shaped styles ; represented by the typical genus 



1. PASSIFL.ORA, L. PASSION-FLOWER. 



Calyx of 5 sepals united at the base, imbricated in the bud, the throat crowned 

 with a double or triple fringe. Petals 5, arising from the throat of the calyx. 

 Stamens 5 : filaments united in a tube which sheathes the long stalk of the ovary, 

 separate above : anthers large, fixed by the middle. Berry (often edible) many- 

 seeded ; the anatropous albuminous seeds invested by a pulpy covering. Seed- 

 coat brittle grooved. Leaves alternate, palmately lobed, generally with stip- 

 ules. Peduncles axillary, jointed. (Name, from passio, passion, and flos, a 

 flower, given by the early missionaries in South America to these flowers, in 

 which they fancied a representation of the implements of the crucifixion.) 



1. P. liitea, L. Smooth, slender; leaves obtusely 3-lobed at the summit, the 

 lobes entire; petioles glandless ; flowers greenish-yellow (!' broad). U Damp 

 thickets, Ohio, Virginia, and southward. July -Sept. Fruit ' in diameter. 



2. P. iiicamata, L. Nearly smooth; leaves 3-cleft ; the lobes serrate; 

 petiole bearing 2 glands ; flower large (2' broad), nearly white, with a triple pur- 

 ple and flesh-colored crown ; involucre 3-leaved. Dry soil, Virginia, Kentucky, 

 and southward. May - July. Fruit of the size of a hen's egg, oval. 



ORDER 48. CUCURBITACE^E. (GOURD FAMILY.) 



Herbaceous mostly succulent vines, with tendrils, dioecious or monceciou* 

 (often monopetalous) Jlowers, the calyx-tube cohering with the 1-3-cetted 

 jvary, and the 3-5 stamens commonly more or less united by their often tor- 

 tuous anthers as well as by the filaments. Fruit (pepo) fleshy, or sometimes 

 membranaceous. Limb of the calyx and corolla usually more or less com- 

 bined. Stigmas 2-3. Seeds large, usually flat, anatropous, with no albu- 

 men. Cotyledons leaf-like. Leaves alternate, palmately lobed or veined. 

 (Mostly tropical or subtropical.) 



Synopsis. 



1. SICYOS. Corolla of the sterile flowers flat and spreading, 5-lobed. Fruit prickly, tnde- 



hiscent, l-celled, 1 seeded. 



2. ECHINOCYSTIS. Corolla of the sterile flowers flat and spreading, 6-parted. Pod prickly, 



2-celled, 4-seeded, bursting at the top. 



8. MELOTHRIA. Corolla of the sterile flowers somewhat campanulate, 6-cleft. Berry 

 smooth, many-seeded. 



1. SICYOS, L. ONE-SEEDED STAR-CUCUMBER. 



Flowers monce*. ious. Petals 5, united I slow into a bell-shaped or flattish 

 corolla. Stamens 5, all cohering, OvarJ l-celled, with a single suspende/I 



