(331) 
Only when the ovules are quite young is one likely to find as 
many as six, owing to the fact that the subsequent growth 
and elongation of the ovary disturbs somewhat the original 
uniform order, and the requirements of space render necessary 
amore economical arrangement, which is attained by the over- 
lapping of the seeds of contiguous placentae, which takes place 
to someextent. The position which the ovule ultimately as- 
sumes is one in which its axis is coincident with a radius and its 
micropyle is directed outward. In the earliest stages of the 
ovule its axis lies at right angles to the radius which passes 
through its center. In the process of growth the apex of the 
ovule is soon directed toward the center of the ovary and 
finally toward the periphery so that the apex describes during 
its growth an arc of 270°. Unlike the ovules of Fevzllea, 
those of Bryonopsis remain essentially perpendicular to the 
axis of the ovary, a condition to be found in most of the 
Cucurbiteae. 
The process of development runs about the same in other 
members ofthis tribe. The cup-like depression appears in the 
young flower on the inner surfaces of which three inwardly pro- 
jecting ridges meet in the line of the floral axis and produce 
the placental folds on the right and left sides of each ridge. 
While one finds in Bryonopsis, Trichosanthes and Momor- 
dica a single line of ovules in each placental border, the case 
is different in Cefrullus and Cucurbita. In these genera 
what was originally a single placental border, has become 
doubled or trebled so that there are two or three longitudinally 
running ridges in each plant instead of one. Consequently 
a transverse section of the ovary shows a series of ovules of 
different sizes borne on each reflexed margin of a carpel. 
The ovules are smallest near the margins of the carpels, and 
largest always on the portion of the placenta nearest its 
origin. Between these two extremes a gradual progression 
in size is maintained, the internal development and differ- 
entiation of the ovule keeping pace with its outward develop- 
ment. The difference in size is lessened, however, by the 
time the flower opens, so that the opportunities for fertilization 
