ORDER 58. CUCURBIT ACE^E. 3^3 



phous, surrounding tho stipe of the ovary. Ovary superior, on a long stipe, 1 -celled; 

 styles 3. Fruit many-seeded. (Illust in figs. 48, 148, 371, 372.) 



Gener<i 12, Kpec.itx 2(0, chiefly natives of tropical America, but cultivated in many other coun- 

 tries as ornamental flowers. The fruit of the Granadilla ( Pussiflora inultiforinis) is eaten in tho 

 W. Indies, and highly valued as a dessert, but the root is poisonous. 



PASSIFLO'RA, L. PASSION FLOWER. (Lat. Jlos passionis ; the 

 several parts of tho flower were compared to the instruments of the 

 Saviour's passion, viz., the cross, the nails, and the crown of thorns.) 

 Calyx colored, deeply 5-parted, the throat with a complex, filamentous 

 crown ; petals 5 ; sometimes ; stamens 5, connate with the stipe of 

 the ovary ; anthers large ; stigmas 3, large, clavate, capitate ; fruit a 

 pulpy berry. Climbing herbs or shrubs. Fls. large, of a singular and 

 wonderful structure. (Fig. 372.) 



1 P. ccerittea L. Shrubby; Ivs.palmatdy and deeply 5-parted; segm. linear- 

 oblong, entire, lateral ones often 2-lobed; pet. glandular, with a 3-bracteoIate 

 involucre near the flower ; bractlets entire ; fil. of the crown shorter than the cor. 

 Native of Brazil, where it grows to the thickness of a man's arm and to tho 

 height of 30C Fls. large and beautiful, blue externally, white and purple within, 

 continuing but one day. Fr. ovoid, yellow, f 



2 P. incarnata L. Lvs. deeply Z-lobed, lobes oblong, acute, serrate, petioles tvith 

 2 glands near the summit ; bractlets of the involucre 3, obovate-glandular ; crown 

 triple. Va. to Fla. Sts. climbing 20 to 30f. Fls. large and showy. Petals 

 white. Two outer rows of filaments, long, purple, with a whitish band, the inner 

 row of short rays, flesh-colored. Berry pale yellow, of the size of an apple, eata- 

 ble. May JL 



3 P. Kltea L. Lvs. glabrous, cordate, 3-lobed, obtuse; petioles without glands ; ped. 

 mostly in pairs ; pet. narrower and much longer than the sep. A slender climber, 

 5 to lOf long, in woods and thickets, Ohio and S. States. Lvs. yellowish green, 

 nearly as broad as long. Fls. small and greenish yellow. Corona in 3 rows, the 

 inner row a membranous disk with a fringed border. Fr. dark purple. May JL 



ORDER LVIII. CUCURBITACEJi CUCURBITS. 



Herbs succulent, creeping or climbing by tendrils, with alternate leaves. Flowers 

 monoecious or polygamous, never blue. Calyx 5-toothed, adherent. Petals 5, united, 

 inserted on the calyx, the lobes alternating. Stamens 5, distinct, generally coher- 

 ing in 3 sets. Anthers very long and wavy or twisted. Ovary inferior, 1-celled, 

 with 3 parietal placenta3 often filling the cells. Fruit a pepo or membranous. Seeds 

 flat, with no albumen, often ariled. (Fig. 442.) 



Genera CO, species 300, natives of tropical regions, only a few being found in the temperate 



zones of Europe and America. A highly important order of plants, affording some of the most 



delicious and nutritive fruit. A bitter laxative principle pervades the group, which is so concen- 



- t rated in a few as to render them actively medicinal. The officinal colocynth is prepared from 



the pulp of Cucumb Colocynthis, a powerful drastic poison. 



Corolla white, G-cleft. Stigmas 2. Fruit echinnte ....................... ECIIINOCTSTIS. 1 



5-petaIlcd. Pepo smooth, many-seeded ................... LAGENA RIA. 



5-parted. Berry smooth, few-seeded ..................... BRYONIA. 



5-lobcd. Fruit prickly, i-seeded ......................... Sic YOS. 



Corolla yellow,-5-lobed. Berry small, smooth, 00 -seeded ................ MELOTHRIA. 



5-lobed. Pepo large. Seeds thick at edge ............... CUCCRBITA. 



3-cleft. Pepo large. Seeds colored, thick-edged ......... CITRULLUS. 



Seeds white, acute-edged .......... Cucusus. 



1. ECHINOCYSTIS, Torr. & Gray. (Gr. ^tw?, sea urchin, 

 bladder ; alluding to the spiny, inflated fruit.) Flowers monoecious. 

 Sterile fl. Calyx of 6 filiform-subulate segments, shorter than the cor- 

 olla ; petals 6, united at base into a rotate campanulate corolla ; sta- 



