CUCURBIT ACE^E 595 



from each side and corresponding in position to the back of 

 the cotyledons which are rather more flattened here than 

 in the case of Bryonia dioica. The embryo as a whole is 

 amygdaloid. 



The seeds of Trichosanthes Anguina are very variable in 

 shape, even in the same fruit, being oblong, oval, or sub- 

 orbicular, much flattened laterally and irregularly jagged or 

 crenate at the edges, presenting a gnawed appearance. The 

 embryo conforms to the shape and size of the seed, and even 

 when in the latter sometimes shows the effect of the indenta- 

 tions. This may be compared with the behaviour of the 

 testa in Passiflora, where however the indentations affect the 

 endosperm only. The fruit is very remarkable, being snake- 

 like, more or less twisted, two to three feet long, green, striped 

 with grey and scarlet when mature. 



Seedlings. Owing to the relatively uniform character of 

 the seeds of this Order and the absence of endosperm, there is 

 a very moderate amount of variation in the shape and appear- 

 ance of the cotyledons. The seeds on the whole are relatively 

 large, sometimes very large ; and throughout the Order, so 

 far as observed, the seedlings are correspondingly large and 

 vigorous from the earliest stages of germination onwards. 

 Generally speaking, the largest cotyledons come from the 

 largest seeds ; but there are cases where the cotyledons of some 

 species greatly exceed in size those of another species of the same 

 genus, even although there is comparatively little difference 

 in the size of the seeds. This arises in consequence of the 

 growth after germination being more vigorous in some than in 

 others. The shape of the seed would have some bearing upon 

 the ultimate shape of the cotyledons, but modifications occur 

 where these become much widened near the apex ; and 

 although the cotyledons as far as observed are always entire 

 in the seed, they ultimately become more or less emarginate 

 in some species by growth after germination. The simplest 

 type appears to be that of Momordica involucrata, the seed- 

 lings of which have oblong-spathulate cotyledons, slightly 

 connate at the base, of moderate size and sessile. The first 

 two leaves are roundly cordate, opposite and five-nerved. 

 Succeeding ones are three- to five-lobed and alternate. M. 



Q Q 2 



