SECT. II 



PHANEROGAMIA 



Important Genera. — Oucumis saiivus, the Cucumber, aud C. ildo, the Melon, 

 are commonly cultivated. Tendrils unbranched ; the tendril corresponds to a bract 

 and arises nearer to the apex of tlie shoot than the leaf nearly opposite to which it 

 stands. The female flowers are solitary, the male are grouped in small inflorescences 

 in the axils of the leaves. Fertilisation is 

 not a necessary preliminary to the de- 

 velopment of the fruit of the Cucumber ; 

 it is said to be parthenocarpous. Cucurhita 

 fepo, the Pumpkin, has branched tendrils, 

 which represent axillary shoots of the 

 simple tendrils. Each branch of the 

 tendril corresponds to a leaf of the shoot, 

 and may sometimes subtend an axillary 

 bud. Both male and female flowers are 

 solitary in the leaf-axils. Bryonia, the 

 Bryony, is British (Fig. 724) ; it is poison- 

 ous and has thick, swollen, fleshy roots, 

 long unbranched tendrils, aud axillary 

 inflorescences ("^). Citrullus Colocynthis is 

 a perennial plant inhabiting the Asiatic 

 and African deserts north of the equator. 

 Leaves deeply three -lobed and pinnately 

 divided. Tendrils simple or forked ; male 

 and female flowers solitary in the axils of 

 the leaves. The fruit is a dry berry (Fig. 

 722). 



Fig. 723.— Ecballium (Cucurbitaceae). Diagrams of 

 (A) a male and of (B) a female flower. (After 



ElCHLER.) 



Fio. 724. — Bryonia dioica. A, Flowering 

 branch (reduced); B, female, C, male 

 flower (nat. size) D, androecium (niag- 

 nififd) ; E, fruits ; F, fruit in section. 



Po/SOA'OCS. 



Official. — Citrullus colocynthis yields colocynthidis pulpa. Ei.ateriitm 

 from EcbalHum elaterium. 



Opder 9. Agrgregatae 



For the most part herbs with the flowers in heads, surrounded by 

 a common involucre. In relation to this the calyx of the individual 

 flowers is reduced. Stamens epipetalous. Ovary inferior, unilocular 

 with a single ovule ^ •. • ^ i • 



Fruit indehiscent. 



Family 1. Dipsaeaceae. — Herbs with opposite leaves. Flower with an epicalyx 

 which persists on the fruit. Tetramerous or pentamerous. Stamens 4, anthers 



2 X 1 



