GENUS 4. 



GOURD FAMILY. 



2 93 



i. Cyclanthera dissecta (T. & G.) Arn. Cut- 

 leaved Cyclanthera. Fig. 4013. 



Discanthera dissecta T. & G. Fl. N. A. i : 697. 1840. 

 Cyclanthera dissecta Arn. in Hook. Journ. Bot. 3 : 280. 

 1841. 



Annual; stem grooved and angular, glabrous, 

 branching, climbing to a height of 3-4, or strag- 

 gling. Petioles i'-2' long; leaves digitately 3-7- 

 foliolate, the leaflets oval or oblong, usually acute at 

 each end, -2' long, rough on both sides, dentate, 

 or somewhat lobed ; staminate flowers racemose, 

 borne on a peduncle -2' long; pistillate flowers 

 solitary, very short-peduncled ; fruit narrowed at 

 the base, slightly oblique, about i' long, armed 

 with slender spines. 



Thickets, Kansas to Texas, Louisiana and northern 

 Mexico. July-Sept. 



5. SICYOS L. Sp. PI. 1013. 1753. 



Annual climbing vines, with branched tendrils, angled or lobed leaves, and small white 

 or green monoecious flowers. Calyx-tube campanulate or cup-shaped, 5-toothed. Corolla 

 campanulate or rotate, S-parted nearly to the base. Staminate flowers corymbose or race- 

 mose, with 3 stamens, the filaments united into a short column, the anthers coherent; pistil 

 wanting. Pistillate flowers several together in capitate long-peduncled clusters, with no 

 stamens; ovary oblong or fusiform, i-celled; ovule I, pendulous; style short, slender; stigmas 

 usually 3. Fruit spiny, indehiscent, i-seeded. [Greek, a cucumber or gourd.] 



About 35 species, natives of America and Australasia. Besides the following typical species, 

 2 others occur in the southwestern states. 



i. Sicyos angulatus L. One-seeded Bur- 

 Cucumber. Star Cucumber. Fig. 4014. 



Sicyos angulatus L. Sp. PI. 1013. 1753. 



Stem angled, more or less viscid-pubescent, climb- 

 ing to a height of i5-25, or trailing. Petioles 

 stout, i '-4' long, pubescent; leaves nearly orbicular, 

 rough on both sides, rather thin, deeply cordate at 

 the base, 5-angled or 5-lobed, the lobes acute or 

 acuminate, the margins denticulate ; staminate flow- 

 ers loosely corymbose or racemose, borne on elon- 

 gated peduncles; fertile flowers capitate, their pe- 

 duncles shorter ; fruits sessile, 3-10 together, yellow- 

 ish, about \' long, pubescent, armed with slender 

 rough spines. 



Along river banks and in moist places, Quebec and 

 Ontario to Florida, west to South Dakota, Kansas and 

 Texas. Naturalized in eastern Europe. Called also 

 nimble kate, wild cucumber. Leaves sometimes 10' across. 

 Tune-Sept. 



Family 42. CAMPANULACEAE Juss. Gen. 163. 1789. 

 BELLFLOWER FAMILY. 



Herbs (some tropical species shrubs or even trees), with alternate exstipulate 

 leaves, usually milky juice, and racemose spicate paniculate or solitary perfect 

 flowers. Calyx-tube adnate to the ovary, its limb mostly 5-lobed or 5-parted, the 

 lobes equal or slightly unequal, valvate or imbricate in the bud, commonly per- 

 sistent. Corolla gamopetalous, regular, inserted at the line where the calyx be- 

 comes free from the ovary, its tube entire, or deeply cleft on one side, its limb 

 5-lobed. Stamens 5, alternate with the corolla-lobes, inserted with the corolla; 

 filaments separate; anthers 2-celled, introrse, separate or connate. Ovary 2-5- 

 celled (rarely 6-io-celled, with the placentae projecting from the axis, or i -celled 



