2060 



MOMORDICA 



known to American gardens as ornamental vines, but 

 the frs. of M. Charantia are eaten by the American 

 Chinese. They are tender annuals and thrive where 

 cucumbers and gourds will grow. They are excellent in 

 the S. for covering porches and arbors. M. Elaterium of 

 the catalogues is Ecballium, which see. 



A. Brad usually about midway (or at base) on the 



peduncle, entire: all peduncles bracted. 

 Charantia, Linn. BALSAM PEAR. Fig. 2382. Run- 

 ning 10 ft. or more, the st. slightly pubescent and 

 furrowed: Ivs. roundish, dull green, pubescent beneath 

 (at least on the ribs), 5-7 lobes with rounded sinuses, 

 the lobes sharp-toothed and notched: fls. yellow, 1 in. 

 across, both the sterile and fertile solitary: fr. yellowish, 

 oblong, pointed, furrowed lengthwise" and tuberculate, 

 6 or 7 in. long, at maturity splitting into 3 divisions 

 and disclosing the bright scarlet arils of the white or 

 brown carved seeds. Trop. Asia and Afr., and natural- 

 ized in W. Indies. B.M. 2455. G.C. III. 52:473. A.G. 

 13:525. The Chinese gardeners about the American 

 cities grow this plant under the name of la-kwa, for 

 the edible pulpy arils surrounding the seeds, and also 

 for the edible fr. itself (which is prepared, usually 

 by boiling, before it is ripe). The rind is sometimes 

 dried and used in medicinal preparations (see Bailey, 

 Bull. No. 67, Cornell Exp. Sta., with illustrations). 

 The odd seeds cause it to be called the "art pumpkin" 

 by some persons. 



Var abbreviate, Ser. (M. zeyldnica, Mill.). Plant 

 smaller: lobes of Ivs. narrower: fr. shorter, ovate- 

 mucronate, with rows of sharp spines; seeds small, 

 commonly smooth. In the tropics. Perhaps speci- 

 fically distinct; but M. Charantia runs into many forms. 



AA. Bract of sterile peduncle near the top, toothed: peduncle 



of fertile fl. bracted at base or not at all. 

 Balsamina, Linn. BALSAM APPLE. Slenderer and 

 more graceful, bright green throughout, glabrous, the 

 foliage smaller and neater: Ivs. cordate-orbicular in 



2382. Momordica Charantia. 

 (Main spray X l /i) 



MONARDA 



outline, 3 in. or less across, 3-5-lobed, with rounded 

 sinuses, the lobes and the few notches or teeth acute: 

 fls. solitary, nearly or quite 1 in. across, yellow, often 

 with blackish center: fr. orange, 2-3 in. long, ovoid and 

 more or less narrowed each way, smooth or tuberculate; 

 seeds compressed, nearly smooth. Widely distributed 

 in Afr. and Asia, and naturalized in the W. Indies. 

 G.C. 1848:271. R.H. 1857, p. 182. G.M. 48:3. A 

 neat vine, growing 4-6 ft. 



AAA. Bract near the top of the sterile peduncle, entire. 



involucrata, E. Meyer. Much like M. Balsamina, but 

 teeth of Ivs. blunt, with a short mucro, fls. larger, bract 

 much larger: fls. white or cream- white, often dotted 

 with black : fr. sulfur-yellow, changing to scarlet, burst- 

 ing, 2 in. long. S. Afr. R.H. 1865:350 (as M. Bal- 

 samina var. leucantha). B.M. 6932. A very slender 

 and graceful climber, with the peduncle bract against 

 the calyx, like an involucre. Intro, to American trade 

 about 1890. 



M. cochinchinensis, Spreng. (M. mixta, Roxbg.), is a large species 

 with 3-lobed Ivs., pale yellow, purple-eyed fls., 4 in. across, and an 

 oblong, bright red fr. 4-7 in. long. Farther India. B.M. 5145. F.S. 

 14:1478. G.C. III. 16:531. G.M. 37:777. L H B 



MONANTHES (named for the often solitary 

 flower). Crassulaceas. About 10 little fleshy herbs of 

 the Canary Isls. and Morocco. Perennial, tufted, 

 mostly glandular-hairy: Ivs. fleshy, clavate or cylindri- 

 cal, opposite or alternate, part or all of them rosulate: 

 fls. reddish or orange, on slender peduncles, solitary or 

 in cymes or racemes; sepals connate at base; petals 

 6-12, small, lanceolate; scales broad and petal-like. 

 Closely allied to Cotyledon and Sempervivum, and 

 presumably requiring similar treatment. From Sem- 

 pervivum it differs in the much more developed scales 

 in the fl., opposite the carpels. Fanciers are likely to 

 grow a number of species; the following description 

 will indicate what the plants are like. 



atlantica, Ball. Branches prostrate, 1-3 in. long, 

 cylindric, bearing toward the end a dense imbricated 

 rosette of 20 or more Ivs., the latter about 3^in. long: 

 fls. golden yellow, speckled red on back, on peduncles 

 from the ends of the branches; petals 6, elliptic-ovate, 

 acuminate. Canaries, Morocco. B.M. 5988 (as M. 

 muralis). L H B 



MONARDA (after Nicolas Monardes, a Spanish 

 physician and botanist, who published in 1571 a book 

 containing accounts of American products. See Fig. 

 1850). Labiatse. HORSE-MINT. Annual and perennial, 

 erect, aromatic herbs. 



Leaves dentate or serrate: calyx tubular, narrow, 

 15-nerved, nearly 5-toothed, mostly villous in the 

 throat; fls. rather large, white, red, purplish, yellowish 

 or mottled, in dense capitate clusters, mostly bracteate, 

 terminal and sometimes axillary, the bracts often 

 highly colored; corolla glabrous within, tube slightly 

 dilated above; upper lip erect or arched; lower lip 

 spreading, 3-lobed, the middle lobe larger or longer than 

 the others; anther-bearing stamens 2, usually exserted, 

 the posterior pair rudimentary or wanting; anthers 

 linear; ovary 4-parted. About 12 species, natives of 

 N. Amer., including Mex. 



This includes the Oswego tea (M. didyma), one of the 

 most brilliant of our native wild flowers, being sur- 

 passed in the intensity of its red only by the cardinal- 

 flower. It is a rather coarse herb, with large heads of 

 gaping, wide-mouthed flowers, which have none of the 

 refinement of the cardinal-flower. For mass effects, 

 however, these plants are very striking. They grow 

 wild along the banks of streams, lighting up the dark 

 corners of the woods. This suggests their proper place 

 in landscape gardening. They should be grown in 

 masses, in wild spots against a dark background. 

 However, they can, if desired, be grown in an ordinary 

 sunny border without more moisture than usual. As a 



