CUCURBITACE^:. 



straight ciliate bristles. Considered in Northern India a powerful 

 drastic in cases of dropsy. Royle. 



BRYONIA. 



Flowers monoecious or dioecious. Petals hardly united at the 

 b se. $ . Calyx 5-toothed. Stamens 3-adelphous ; anthers 

 flexuose. ? . Style 3-fid. Fruit ovate or globose, smooth, 

 few-seeded. Seeds ovate, scarcely compressed, more or less 

 edged. Tendrils simple, seldom forked. 



176. B. rostrata RottL n. act. berol. iv. 212. DC. prodr. 

 \\i. 304. Tranquebar. 



Stem filiform, furrowed. Leaves cordate, obtuse, toothletted, sca- 

 brous. Peduncles axillary, solitary. Fruit ovate, angular, acuminate. 

 Root prescribed in India as an astringent and emollient poultice in 

 cases of piles. It is also used as a demulcent in form of powder. 

 Ainslie. 



177. B. alba Linn, sp. 621. Blackw. herb. t. 533. Lam. illustr. 

 t. 796. DC. prodr. iii. 307. Vineyards and woods in the 

 middle and South of Europe. 



Root large, fleshy, white. Stem climbing. Leaves cordate, 5-lobed, 

 angular, toothed, bristly with callosities on both sides. Flowers race- 

 mose, monoecious. Berries black. Properties like those of the next 

 species. 



178. B. dioi'ca Jacq.fl. austr. t. 199. E. Bot. t. 439. Millie. 

 t. 71. S. and C. i, t. 64-. B. alba Woodv. t. 189. Common 

 in hedges. (Bryony ; Wild vine.) 



Root large, long, fleshy, white. Stems annual, scabrous, scrambling 

 among bushes by aid of their tendrils. Leaves 3-4 inches broad, with 

 5 angular lobes, rough all over with minute callosities. Flowers white 

 with green veins, on panicled axillary stalks, male on one plant, female 

 on another, when young but when old becoming monoecious. Berries 

 small, scarlet, fetid when bruised. Root acrid and purgative, owing 

 to the presence of an extractive matter called Bryonine. It produces 

 violent vomiting and purging, tormina, profuse watery evacuations, and 

 fainting. It is not admitted into the British pharmacopoeias, but is a 

 frequent instrument in the practice of quack doctors in the country. 

 Burnett says it is sold in Covent Garden market as a discutient to 

 remove the bruise of a blackened eye. Withering considers it one of 

 the best cathartic medicines for horned cattle. 



MOMORDICA. 



Flowers monoecious, yellow or white. $ . Calyx 5-cleft, 

 with a very short tube. Corolla 5-parted. Stamens triadel- 

 phous ; with connate anthers. ? , Filaments 3, sterile. 

 Style 3-fid. Ovary 3-celled. Fruit opening with elasticity when 

 ripe. Seeds compressed, reticulated. 



179. M. Elaterium Linn sp. pi. 1434. Bot. mag. t. 1914. 

 Blackw. herb. t. 108. S. and C. i. t. 34. 2ucvq ypioq Dioscor. 

 Ecbalium officinale N. and E. handb. iii. 101. South of Europe. 



86 



