Passijlorece.'] PASSiFLOREiE. 123 



Albumen fleshy. Embryo straight. Radicle next the hilimi. Cotyledons 

 leafy.— Climbers, or rarely erect herbs or shrubs. Leaves alternate, entire or 

 divided, with stipules. Flowers hermaphrodite or unisexual. 



Besides Passi flora itself, the Order contains a few small genera dispersed over the tropical 

 regions of the Old as well as the New World. 



1. PASSIFLORA, Linn. 



Calyx-tube short. One or several rings of coloured filaments within the 

 petals. Stamens as many as the sepals, so united ^\\{\\ the ovary-stalk as to 

 appear to be inserted at its summit. Styles 8, with large capitate stigmas. 

 Fruit succident, indehiscent. — Climbers with axillary tendrils. Flowers 

 usually hemiaphrodite. Sepals usually coloiu'ed inside as much as the petals. 



A large genus, almost entirely American, with a very few somewhat anomalous species 

 fi-om the Old World. 



1. P. fcetida, Linn, ; DC. Prod. iii. 331 ; Bot. Reg. if. 321 ; But. Mar/. 

 ^.2619. A herbaceous climber, usually very haiiy. Leaves stalked, cordate, 

 and mostly 3-lobed, 2 to 3 in. long, softly villous on both sides. Stipules 

 fringed with hair-like lobes, tipped with a small gland. Peduncles axillary, 

 1 to 2 in. long, bearing a single flower, closely surrounded and almost en- 

 closed in a moss-like involucre, consisting of 3 bracts veiy much divided into 

 hair-like glandiQar lobes. Petals pale purplish-white, spreading to about 2 

 in. diameter. 



Common about habitations, Wilford. A native of S. America, where it has a very wide 

 range, and introduced from thence it has become a village and roadside weed over a great part 

 of East India. 



Order XLV. CUCUEBITACE^. 



Flowers usually unisexual. Calyx superior (or adherent at the base and 

 produced above the ovai-y), usually campanulate, 5 -toothed. Petals 5, or 

 united in a 5-lobed coroUa, apparently continuous with the calyx-tube, with 

 the calyx-teeth at the base of the lobes. Male floAvers : Stamens usually 

 5 or 3. Anthers usually linear and cm-ved, forming a wavy line on the con- 

 nectivum. Female flowers : Ovaiy inferior, often 1 -celled when veiy young, 

 with 3 parietal placentas, which soon grow out so as to divide the ovary into 

 3 or 6 cells. Ovules many, or rarely 1 to each placenta. Fruit succulent, 

 indehiscent, or bm-sting irregidarly. Seeds usually ovate and compressed, in 

 a juicy or membranous arillus. Albumen none. Embiyo straight, with the 

 radicle next the hilum, and leafy cotyledons. — Climbers, usually herbaceous, 

 with lateral tendrils. Leaves alteniate, palmately veined or lobed. 



A considerable Order, dis])ersed over all but the colder regions of the globe, but most 

 abundant in dry hot countries, especially in Africa. 

 Stamens inserted at the base of the calyx. 



Male flowers (very small) in racemes. Berries small, globular or oblong 1. Kahivia. 



Male flowers solitary. Fruits large, globular -i. Citkulh:s. 



Stamens inserted near the petals. 



Connective of the anthers projecting beyond the cells. Fruit oblung, 



indehiscent . .••,•.••.•• 2. .Echm.\ndra. 



Anther-cells sinuous, almost covcrinu: the connective. Fruit unu-icate, 



opening elastically ^ 3. Momokdica. 



