CUCURBITACE^:. 143 



1. A. caudal inn, Lindl. Acaulescent, with creeping aromatic root- 

 stocks, the branches of these bearing 2 long-petioled leaves and a 

 pedunculate flower: leaves cordate-reniform, somewhat cucullate, acutish 

 or obtuse, 2 4 in. long, sparingly pubescent above : peduncles slender, 

 6 15 lines long: ovary 4 lines broad: calyx-lobes oblong, with long- 

 attenuate apex, 1 2^ in. long: filaments stout, the free apex of the 

 connective shorter than the anther: styles united, equalling the stamens: 

 seeds 1^ lines long, ovate. Woods of the Coast Range. April. 



ORDER XLVII. CUCURBITACE/E. 



Herbs, tendril-bearing, trailing or climbing, commonly scabrous and 

 succulent. Flowers axillary to the alternate leaves, unisexual. Calyx- 

 tube coherent with the ovary; limb of 5 lobes or teeth. Corolla with 

 petals more or less united. Stamens 5, more or less united; anthers 

 2-celled, or one of them 1-celled. Ovary 2 3-celled; stigma 3 5-lobed. 

 Fruit fleshy. Seeds large, usually compressed, exalbuminous; cotyledons 

 fleshy. 



1. CUCURBIT A, Pliny (SQUASH. PUMPKIN). Flowers solitary. 

 Caylx-tube campanulate, 5 lobed. Corolla campanulate, 5-cleft to the 

 middle or lower, the lobes recurved. Sterile fl. with stamens at the 

 base of the corolla; filaments distinct; anthers more or less united, 

 flexuous. Fertile fl. with 3 rudimentary stamens; ovary oblong, with 

 3 placentae and many horizontal ovules; style short; stigmas 3, 2-lobed 

 Fruit indehiscent; in our species with a hard shell-like rind. 



1. C. foetidissima, HBK. Boot large, fusiform: stems long, trailing: 

 leaves scabrous, triangular-cordate, acute, the slight lobes rounded or 

 angled, mucronate-denticulate; petiole shorter than the blade: tendrils 

 3 5-cleft: fl. 34 in. long, yellow; corolla-lobes obtuse, mucronate: 

 calyx-tube ^ in. long, the linear lobes as long: fr. globose, 2 3 in. 

 thick, smooth, yellow, on a peduncle 1 2 in. long; shell filled with a 

 fibrous bitter pulp: seed thin, obovate, 4 5 lines long, obtusely 

 margined. From San Joaquin Co. southward, on low plains. 



2. MICRAMPELIS, Raf. (Bio-RooT). Membranous-leaved trailing 

 or climbing herbs, with simple tendrils, and small white or greenish 

 flowers, the fertile solitary, the sterile racemose or panicled from the 

 same axil. Calyx-tube broadly campanulate; teeth small or obsolete. 

 Corolla rotate or campanulate, deeply 5 7-lobed, with elongated seg- 

 ments. Sterile fl. with stamens at base; filaments short, united: anthers 

 distinct or more or less coherent. Fertile fl. pedicellate, with or without 

 abortive stamens. Ovary globose or oblong, bristly, 2 4-celled; cells 

 1 4-ovuled: style short; stigma 2 3-parted or -lobed. Fruit prickly, 

 fibrous and watery-pulpy, dehiscing irregularly near the apex. Seeds 



