194 LOASACEJE. (LOASA FAMILY.) 



* Seeds few, oblong, not winged ; petals 5, not large; filaments all filiform. 



1. M. Oligosp6rma, Nutt. Rough and adhesive (1-3 high), much 

 branched, the brittle branches spreading ; leaves ovate and oblong, cut-toothed 

 or angled, often petioled ; flowers yellow (7 - 10" broad), opening in sunshine ; 

 petals wedge-oblong, pointed; stamens 20 or more; capsule small, about 9- 

 seeded. Prairies and plains, 111. to Kan. and Col., south to Tex. 



* # Seeds numerous, rounded and wing-margined ; petals 10, large and showy ; 

 outer filaments petaloid in n. 3; capsule large, oblong ; leaves sessile. 



2. M. ornata, Torr. & Gray. Stout, 1 - 2 high ; leaves oblong-lanceolate, 

 deeply repand-toothed or pinnatifid, the segments acute ; calyx-tube leafy-brac- 

 teate ; petals 2-3' long, yellowish-white ; filaments all filiform or the outer 

 dilated below ; capsule \\- 2' long ; seeds narrowly margined. On the plains, 

 western part of the Dakotas to central Kan. and Tex. 



3. M. nilda, Torr. & Gray. More slender, 1 -5 high ; leaves somewhat 

 lanceolate, rather bluntly or shortly repand-dentate ; flowers half as large as 

 in the last ; calyx not bracteate ; outer filaments narrowly dilated, sterile ; capsule 

 about Y long ; seeds plainly winged. Plains, Dakotas to ceu. Kan. and Tex. 



ORDER 44. PASSIFLORACEJE. (PASSION-FLOWER FAMILY.) 



Herbs or woody plants, climbing by tendrils, with perfect flowers, 5 mona- 

 delphous stamens, and a stalked 1-celled ovary free from the calyx, with 3 or 

 4 parietal placentae, and as many club-shaped styles. 



1. PASSIFLOKA, L. PASSION-FLOWER. 



Calyx of 5 sepals united at the base into a short cup, imbricated in the bud, 

 usually colored like the petals, at least within ; the throat crowned with a double 

 or triple fringe. Petals 5, on the throat of the calyx. Stamens 5 ; filaments 

 united in a tube which sheathes the long stalk of the ovary, separate above ; 

 anthers large, fixed by the middle. Berry (often edible) many-seeded ; the 

 anatropous albuminous seeds invested by a pulpy covering. Seed-coat brittle, 

 grooved. Leaves alternate, generally palmately lobed, with stipules. Pedun- 

 cles axillary, jointed. Ours are perennial herbs. (An adaptation viflos passi- 

 onis, a translation oifior delta passione, the popular Italian name early applied 

 to the flower from a fancied resemblance of its parts to the implements of the 

 crucifixion.) 



1. P. Itltea, L. Smooth, slender; leaves obtusely 3-lobed at the summit, the 

 lobes entire; petioles glandless; flowers greenish-yellow (V broad) ; fruit % in 

 diameter. Damp thickets, S. Peun. to Fla., west to 111., Mo., and La. 



2. P. incarnata, L. Pubescent ; leaves 3 - 5-cleft, the lobes serrate, the 

 base bearing 2 glands; flower large (2' broad), nearly white, with a triple 

 purple and flesh-colored crown ; involucre 3-leaved ; fruit as large as a hen's 

 egg. Dry soil, Va. to Fla., west to Mo. and Ark. Fruit called maypops. 



ORDER 45. CUCURBITACE^. (GOURD FAMILY.) 



Mostly succulent herbs with tendrils, dicecious or monoecious (often gamo- 

 petalous) flowers, the calyx-tube cohering with the 1 - 3-celled ovary, and the 



