402 LXiii. cucuRBiTACE^. [CucurUta 



thick ; fruit ellipsoidal, when young as large as a pigeon's egg, some- 

 what furrowed or rather lined longitudinally, with white flesh, flavoured 

 like a cucumber. In sandy maritime stations near Boa Vista, quite 

 wild but probably introduced and an escape from cultivation ; fl. and 

 young fr. beginning of Aug. 1858. No 841. 



4. C. ficifolia Bouche in Verb. Ver. Gartenb. Berl. xii. p. 205 

 (1837); Cogn., ^.c, p. 547. 



C. melanosjjerma A. Braun, Cat. Hort. Karlsr., 1824 (name 

 only); Hook, f., I.e., p. 556 in note ; Ficalho, I.e., p. 192. 



MossAMEDES (and Dande). — Ripe fruit perfectly ellipsoidal, rather 

 flattened at both ends, not ribbed, of a bright grass-green colour, 

 speckled with white spots at equal distances ; flesh bright-yellow, 

 turning red and very firm ; seeds always black. The fruit is frequently 

 preserved in sugar and in this state very highly appreciated for dessert. 

 Occasionally cultivated in gardens about Mossamedes, where it had 

 been recently introduced ; ripe fr. at Cavalheiros, June 1860 (also by 

 the river Dande). Called by the Portuguese colonists " Abobora Xila " 

 or " Abobora Chila." No. 834 and Coll. Carp. 142. 



18. MELOTHRIA L. ; Benth. & Hook. f. Gen. PI. i. p. 830. 

 Zehneria Endl. ; Benth. & Hook, f., I.e., p. 830. Mukia Am. ; 

 Benth. & Hook., I.e., p. 829. 



1. M. tridactyla Hook. f. in Oliv. Fl. Trop. Afr. ii. p. 562 ; 

 Cogn. in DC. Monogr. Phan. iii. p. 596 (1881). 



GoLUNGO Alto. — A glaucous-green, monoecious, twining herb, climb- 

 ing widely but not high ; flowers yellow, the female ones solitary, the 

 male ones sometimes solitary, at other times arranged in weak racemes ; 

 peduncles delicately capillary. In herbaceous shady parts of the 

 primitive forests of Quibanga in Sobato de Mussengue on the left- 

 hand side of the road from Sange to Ambaca ; fl. and fr. middle of 

 Dec. 1855. No. 826. 



2. M. triangularis Benth. in Hook. Niger Fl. p. 367 (1849) ; 

 Hook, f., I.e., p. 562. 



Bryonia capillacea Schum. & Thonn. in Danske Vidensk. Selsk. 

 iv. p. 204 (1829); M. capillacea Cogn., I.e., p. 600. 



GoLUNGO Alto. — A glaucous-green, twining herb, with very small, 

 yellow flowers. At the borders of thickets on the north side of Serra 

 de Alto Queta, very sporadic ; fl. and fr. middle of Dec. 1855, and in 

 Jan. 1856. No. 827. 



3. M. lucida Cogn., I.e., p. 606. 



Pilogyne lucida Naud. in Ann. Sc. Nat., Ser. 5, v. p. 36, t. 6 

 (1866). Zehneria lucida Hook, f.. I.e., p. 559, in note. 



GoLUNGO Alto. — In the shade of the forests of Mata de Quibolo ; 

 without either fl. or fr. August 1856. No. 862. 



4. M. angolensis Cogn., I.e., p. 606. 

 Zehiieria angolensis Hook, f., I.e., p. 559. 



GoLUNGO Alto. — On bushy declivities along streams in the moun- 

 tainous parts of Serra de Alto Queta, rather rare ; scarcely in good fl., 

 Nov. 1855. No. 842. A herb, climbing horizontally ; flowers small, 

 white ; fruit scarlet. In thickets at the borders of primitive forests 

 in Serra de Alto Queta, at Zengas do Queta ; in fr. and sparingly in 

 male and female fl. Dec. 1855. No, 844. A widely climbing herb ; 



