CURCURBITACEAE 



847 



Miq.; T. japonica Kegel Ki-karasu-uri. Roots thick- 



ened; stems slender, soft brown-pubescent while young; leaves 

 ovate to orbicular, 5-anglcd, cordate, palmately 3- to 5(-7)- 

 lobed or -cleft, short-pilose above; fruiting peduncles 2-3 cm. 

 long; staminate spikes 10-20 cm. long; bracts broadly ovate to 

 obovate, 1.5-2.5 an. long, coarsely toothed; calyx-segments 

 broadly linear, 8-12 mm. long; calyx-segmcnLs of pistillate 

 flowers 3.5-4 cm. long; fruit ovate-globose, to 10 cm. long, 

 yellow, the peduncles 2-3 (-4.5) cm. long; seeds oblong to 



ovate-orbicular, 11-14 mm. long, dark brown. Aug.-Sept. 



Hokkaido (Okushiri Isl.), Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu. 



Rjiikyus. The typical phase with pale brown seeds, occurs in 

 the temperate to warmer regions of c. Asia. 



4. Trichosanthes cucumeroides (Ser.) Maxim. Bry- 

 onia cucumeroidcs Ser.; Platygonia haempjeri Naud. 



Karasu-uri. Roots fasciculate, thickened; stems slender, 



white-puberulent; leaves membranous, the tendrils with 1 or 2 

 branches; ovate-cordate to cordate-reniform, usually 6-10 cm. 

 long and as wide, usually 3- to 5-lobed or angled, sometimes 

 5-cleft, white-puberulent; staminate spikes 2-10 cm. long; 



bracts small, lanceolate, 2-3 mm. long; calyx-segments 3-4 

 mm. long; corolla-tube in staminate flowers 6-7 cm. long; 

 fruit globose to oblong, red, 5-7 cm. long, the peduncles about 

 1 cm. long; seeds brown, about 1 cm. long, 7-9 mm. wide, 

 with a raised longitudinal band 4-5 mm. wide. Aug.- 

 Sept. Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu. Ryukyus, Formosa, and 



China. 



5. Trichosanthes rostrata Kitam. Ke-karasu-uri, 

 Tengu-karasu-uri. Roots elongate, somewhat thickened; 

 stems puberulent, 5-angled; tendrils with 2 or 3 branches; 

 leaves diick-membranous, broadly ovate<ordate or reniform- 

 cordate, 3- to 5-lobed, puberulent, with scattered multicellular 

 hairs on nerves beneath; staminate spikes 6-12 cm. long; 

 bracts cuneate or narrowly oblong, 1-1.5 cm. long, toothed on 

 upper margin; calyx-segments 8-10 mm. long; corolla-tube 

 about 7 cm. long; fruit 4.5-7 cm. long, beaked, red, the pedun- 

 cles 1.5-2 cm. long; seeds dark brown, 7-8 mm. long, 6.5-7.5 



mm. wide, with a longitudinal band 3.5-4 mm. wide. Aug. 



Kyushu (Oosumi Prov.). Ryukyus. 



2. THLADIANTHA Bunge O-suzume-uri Zoku 



Dioecious perennials with tendrils and tuberous roots; leaves ovate, rarely deeply 3-lobed to pedately compound into 3-7 

 leaflets; tendrils simple or bifid; flowers yellow, the staminate in racemes or solitary; calyx-tube short-campanulate to rotate, with 

 1-3 scalelike appendages on the throat, the lobes linear; corolla campanulate, with 5 large, reflexed lobes; stamens in pairs; calyx of 

 pistillate flowers without scalelike appendages on the throat; staminodes 5, elongate; style cylindric, 3-lobed, tlie stigma dilated or 

 2-lobed; fruit oblong, indehiscent; seeds many, obovate, flat. About 24 species, in centr. to e. Asia, and tropical Asia. 



1. Thladiantha dubia Bunge. O-suzume-uri. Peren- pedicels densely pubescent; calyx short-campanulate; coroUa- 



nial herb, densely long spreading-hairy with simple tendrils; lobes oblong, reflexed; stamens in pairs; fruit oblong, 4-5 cm. 



leaves ovate-cordate, irregularly mucronate-dentate; flowers long. Naturalized; Honshu (Shinano and Iwaki Prov.). 



yellow, 6-7 cm. across, the staminate axillary, solitary, the Korea, Manchuria, and China. 



3. ACTINOSTEMMA Grifi. Gokizuru Zoku 



Scandent monoecious herbs sometimes woody at base; leaves petiolate, hastate, cordate, coarsely toothed; tendrils simple or 

 bifid; flowers unisexual, small, in axillary panicles or racemes, the pedicels jointed in the middle; calyx rotate, 5-parted, the seg- 

 ments slender, glandular on margin; corolla rotate, 5-parted, the segments narrow, caudate; stamens 5, free, the anther-locules 

 oblong; pistillate flowers on lower portion of inflorescence, the staminate on the upper portion; ovary 1-locular; style short, the 



stigmas 2, reniform; ovules 2 to 4, pendulous; fruit small, asperous, circumscissile; seeds 2-4, flat, scabrous. About 6 species, 



in e. Asia and India. 



1. Actinostemma lobahim (Maxim.) Maxim. Mitro- 

 sicyos lobatus Maxim.; M. racemosus Maxim.; Karivia (?) 

 longicirrha Miq.; A. racemosum (Maxim.) Cogn.; A. japoni- 

 cum Miq. Gokizuru. Slender annual, loosely short- 



pubescent on stems, leaves, and inflorescence; leaves thinly 

 membranous, petiolate, narrowly hastate, or deltoid-cordate, 

 5-10 cm. long, 2.5-7 cm. wide, acuminate, sometimes with an 

 obtuse tip, sparsely short-toothed, sometimes shallowly 3- to 

 5-lobed; panicles raccmiform, to 12 cm. long; flowers small, 

 greenish yellow; calyx-segments linear-lanceolate, slightly 

 shorter than the corolla-lobes, caudate; corolla-lobes narrowly 



ovate-oblong, 5-6 mm. long, caudate; pistillate flowers soli- 

 tary, near the base of staminate inflorescence, the peduncles 

 about 1 cm. long; fruit ovoid, soft-spiny, about 1 cm. in di- 

 ameter, circumscissile; seeds 2, large. Aug.-Dec. Thick- 

 ets along rivers in lowlands; Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu; com- 

 mon. 

 Actinostemma palmatum (Makino) Makino. A. lobatum 



var. palmatum Makino Tsutaba-cokizuru. Obscurely 



known plant. Leaves orbicular to reniform, deeply 3-cleft, the 



lobes again 2- or 3-lobcd. Once collected near Chiba in 



Honshu. 



4. MELOTHRIA L. Suzume-uri Zoku 



Slender scandent monoecious or rarely dioecious herbs; leaves lobed or undivided; tendrils simple; flowers unisexual, small, 

 yellowish or white, the staminate in racemes or corymbs, rarely solitary; calyx campanulate, shortly 5-toothcd; corolla 5-parted 

 nearly to the base; stamens 3, the anthers free or slightly connate, die locules straight; pistillate flowers solitary, usually on very 



slender peduncles; placentae 3; st>'le short, the stigma linear or capitate, bifid; fruit juicy, small; seeds flat, horizontal, many. 



About 85 species, of wide distribution in all warmer regions. 



