CUCURBITACEAE. 



VOL. III. 



i. Melothria pendula L. Creeping Cucumber. 

 Fig. 4011. 



Melothria pendula L. Sp. PI. 35. 1753. 



Root perennial. Stem slender, climbing to a height of 

 3-5, branched, glabrous, grooved; petioles i'-2*' long; 

 leaves nearly orbicular in outline, finely pubescent or sca- 

 brous on both sides, cordate at the base, 5-lobed or 5-angled, 

 denticulate or dentate; tendrils puberulent; staminate flow- 

 ers 4-7, racemose, borne on a peduncle \'-\' long; fertile 

 flowers solitary, slender-peduncled ; corolla greenish white, 

 about 2" broad ; fruit smooth, ovoid, green, 4"-6" long. 



In thickets, Pennsylvania (Schweinitz, according to Cog- 

 niaux) ; Virginia to Florida, west to Indiana, Kentucky, Mis- 

 souri and northern Mexico. June-Sept. 



3. MICRAMPELIS Raf. Med. Rep. (II.) 5: 350. 1808. 

 [ECHINOCYSTIS T. & G. Fl. N. A. i : 542. 1840.] 



Mostly annual climbing herbs, with branched tendrils, lobed or angled leaves, and small 

 white monoecious flowers. Calyx-tube campanulate, 5-6-lobed. Corolla very deeply S-6-parted. 

 Stamens 3 in the staminate flowers, the anthers more or less coherent. Pistillate flowers 

 with a 2-celled ovary; ovules 2 in each cavity; style very short; stigma hemispheric or lobed. 

 Fruit fleshy, or dry at maturity, densely spiny, i-2-celled, usually with 2 seeds in each cavity, 

 dehiscent at the summit. Testa of the seed roughened. [Greek, small-vine.] 



About 25 species, natives of America. Besides the following typical one, about 10 others occur 

 in the western United States. 



i. Micrampelis lobata (Michx.) Greene. Wild Balsam Apple. Mock Apple. 



Mock Orange. Fig. 4012. 



Momordica echinata Muhl. Trans. Am. Phil. Soc. 3 : 



180. Name only. 1793. 



Sicyos lobata Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 2: 217. 1803. 

 Echinocystis lobata T. & G. Fl. N. A. i : 542. 1840. 

 Micrampelis lobata Greene, Pittonia 2: 128. 1890. 



Stem nearly glabrous, angular and grooved, 

 branching, climbing to a height of i5-25, 

 sometimes villous-pubescent at the nodes. Peti- 

 oles i'-3' long; leaves thin, roughish on both 

 sides, deeply cordate at the base, 3~7-lobed to 

 about the middle, the lobes triangular-lanceolate, 

 acute or acuminate, the margins remotely serru- 

 late ; staminate flowers very numerous in nar- 

 row compound racemes ; pistillate flowers soli- 

 tary, or rarely 2 together ; fruit ovoid, green, 

 about 2' long, armed with slender spines; seeds 

 flat. 



Along rivers, and in waste places, New Brunswick 

 to Ontario, Manitoba, Montana, Virginia, Pennsyl- 

 vania, Kentucky, Kansas and Texas. Eastward, 

 mostly occurring as an introduced plant. Wild 

 cucumber. Creeper. Creeping Jenny. July-Sept. 



4. CYCLANTHERA Schrad. Ind. Sem. Hort. Goett. 1831. 



Climbing, annual or perennial, mostly glabrous vines, with forked or simple tendrils, 

 usually digitately compound leaves and small white or greenish monoecious flowers. Calyx 

 cup-shaped, 5-toothed. Corolla rotate, deeply 5-parted. Staminate flowers racemose or pani- 

 cled, the stamens united into a central column ; anther i, annular in our species. Pistillate 

 flowers solitary; ovary obliquely ovoid, beaked, i-3-celled, with 2 ovules in each cavity; style 

 short ; stigma large, hemispheric. Fruit spiny, obliquely ovoid, beaked, at length irregularly 

 dehiscent, few-seeded. [Greek, circle-anther.] 



About 40 species, natives of America. Type species : Cyclanthera pedata Schrad. 



