9Qg CUCUKBITACE.'K. Pdalonijx. 



toothed, the upper sessile, the lower on i-uther short petioles : tlowers large, on 

 pedicels 3 to 6 lines long, in terminal bracteate cymes : calyx-lobes lanceolate, 6 to 

 10 lines long; petals twice longer, broadly spatulate, abrupUy acuminate, haiiy at 

 the apex, united at base into a tube 3 lines long : liUuuents equalling the calyx- 

 lobes ; style slout, cleil to the miildlo : cai)sule broadly obovoid, half an inch long, 

 oijcning by 5 erect valves as in the other species; the seinls also exceedingly numer 

 uus, linear-oblong, about a lifth of a line long, marked by a few longitudinal striiu. 

 — Am. Naturalist, ix. 1-14. MentztUa urens, Gray, Proc. Am. Acad. x. 71, Am. 

 Naturalist, ix. 271. 



Collected by Bu/dow in rocky urroyos near tlie conlluenco of the Williams River with the Colo- 

 imlo, and eastward to tSouthern Utah, Parnj. 



3. PETALONYX, (Jiay. 



Calyx-tube very small, cylindrical, with 5 linear deciduous lobes as long as the 

 ovary. Petals 5, with long connivent claws and ovate-spatulate blade. Stamens 5, 

 with free filiform filaments, inserted with the petals on the outer edge of an epigy- 

 nous disk ; anthers small, didymous. Ovary 1-celled : style simple, elongated : 

 stigma entire : ovule solitary, pendulous from the sunnnit of the cell. Cajjsule very 

 small, oblong, bursting irregularly. Seed oblong, smooth. — Erect perennial herbs, 

 or shrubby at base, pubescent or rough with short barbed hairs; leaves alternate, 

 entire or toothed; flowers small, yellowish, in terminal heads or short leafy spikes. 

 Three species, of Arizona an<l the ailjacent region. 



1. P. Thurberi, Gray. Stems 1 to 2 feet high from a somewhat woody base, 

 branching: leaves ovate to oblong, an inch long or less, smaller and becoming bract- 

 like (2 to 3 lines long) on the branches, sessile, acute, entire or rarely few-tootlied ; 

 the floral bracts ovate, acuminate, toothed at base : flowers in short and dense 

 spikes, sessile: cidyx 2 lines long: petals light yellow, 2 lines long or more, slightly 

 hisi»id : lilamonts and style half an inch long: capsule a lino long, not angled or 

 winged. — PI. Thurb. 311) ; Torrey, Bot. Mex. Bound, t. 22. 



San Diego and San Bernardino counties, and adjacent parts of Arizona to S. Nevada, Thur- 

 ber, Cooper, Scholt, Palmer, kc. 



P. NiTinus, Watson, is found in S. Nevada and jjrobably extends into S. E. California ; dis- 

 tinguished by its ovnto poliolcd coarsely toothed leaves, rounded at base, not greatly reduced on 

 the brandies, anil with a somewhat vitreous and shining surface. 



P. Pakuyi, Gray, is a more eastern species, of S. Utah, decidedly shrubby, the leaves rhoui- 

 l>oidal-ovate, cuneate into a short petiole, scarcely smaller above. 



OiiDEii XLI. CUCURBITACE^. 



Herbs, mostly tendril-bearing and climbing, rather succulent, with alternate and 

 palmately veined or lobed leaves, no j^roper stipules ; the flowers monoecious or dioi- 

 cious, with petals more commonly united into a cup or tube and also blended with 

 the calyx. Sterile flowers with 2h stamens, that is, two complete, with 2-cclled 

 anthers, and one with a 1-celled anther; the cells usually long and contorted. Fer- 

 tile flowers with calyx-tube adnate to a 1-celled or 2 - 3-celled ovary ; the i)lacentai 

 either parietal, or confluent in or projecting from the axis. Seeds anatropous, with- 

 out albumen. 



A peculiar but familiar family, of great divei-sity as to tlie fruit, kc, yet easy to recognize, 

 widely distributed over the world, but maiidy indigenous to warm regions. Cliiefly inipoi tant 

 for the esculent fruits it produces (Melon, Watermelon, Cucumber, Pumpkin, Squash, &c.), and 



