DR. B. SEEMANN ON THE CRESCENTIACEyE. 19 



LinriEeiis's own herbarium liaA'ing leaves tlie under side of which is slightly pubescent, as 

 those of C. cuneifolia, Gardn. are ; and the difference in the fruit amounts to nothing : 

 the spots are generally observable in young fruits, and disappear in the old ones. 

 C. acuminata, H. B. K., which (misled by the term "fragile,'' applied to its fruit by 

 DeCandoUe, a term not contained in the original description of H. B. K.) I suggested 

 (Bot. Herald, p. 183), might belong to C. cuciirbitina, is, according to an authentic speci- 

 men preserved in the Berlin Herbarium, also identical with C. Cujete, Linn. C. angiisti- 

 folia of Willdenow's Herbarium is another synonym. The second Crescentia which I con- 

 sider a good species is C. cuciirbitina, Linn., which Linnseus published in his ' Mantissa,' 

 and which he probably never saw, as there is no specimen of it in his herbarium ; he 

 described it, most likely, as he has done in several other instances, from Plumier's figures. 

 This species is distinguished by its simple isolated leaves, and the shell of its fruit, 

 which is so fragile that it may be crushed in the hand like an e^^. C. latifolia, Linn, 

 has justly been regarded as a synonym of this species ; and to this I have added C. oljo- 

 vata, Benth., C. letliifera, Tussac, C. toxicaria, Tussac, and C. paliistris, Forsyth Herb. 

 The description of C. ovata of Burmann's ' Flora Indica,' p. 132, short as it is (" C. foliis 

 ovatis integerrimis, apice acuminatis ; folia in hac specie perfecte ovata nee attenuata, 

 ut in Crescentia Cujete, L."), agrees perfectly well with this, and no other species. The 

 thu'd species of Crescentia holding good is C. macrophylla, Seem., allied to, but quite 

 distinct from C. cucurhitina. It is cultivated in some gardens under the names of 

 C. regia and Ferdinandtisa svperha ; and its geographical range seems to be limited to a 

 portion of Mexico. The fourth species of Crescentia, the validity of which I am ready to 

 acknowledge, is C. alata, H. B. K., the Tecomate of the Mexicans. That species is 

 characterized by having a hard-shelled fruit and fasciculate leaves, the central leaf of its 

 fascicles being trifoliolated. As a synonym of it I regard C. trijolia, M. Blanco, the 

 description of the latter in the ' Flora de Filipinas ' agreeing word for word with G. alata, 

 H. B. K., and its Mexican origin having been traced by Blanco, the author of that 

 ' Flora,' who says : " Tal vez habran venido de America ; . . . . Uaman in Nueva Espaha 

 ' Tecomate.' " These are the only four genuine species of Crescentia. C. aculeata, 

 H. B. K. and C. eclulis, Moz. are merely synonyms of Farmentiera edulis, DeCand. ; 

 C. edulis, Desv. the simple-leaved form of the same species. C. jasmiuoides, Lam. 

 belongs to Gardenia clusicefolia, Jacq. ; and C. pinnata, Jacq. to Kigelia pinnata, DeCand. 



§ I. Folia alterna, solitaria. Corolla virescens. 

 1. Cbescentia ctjcuebitina ; arborescens, foliis alternis solitariis omnibus simplicibus 



lanceolato-ovatis vel obovatis breviter acuminatis, fructibus globosis ovatis vel 



ellipticis, cortice fragili. (v. sp. v. et cult.) 

 Crescentia cuciirbitina, Linn. Mant. p. 250; DeCand. Prodr. ix. p. 246 ; Seem, in Hook. Journ. and Kew 



Misc. vi. p. 274 ; Swartz, Obs. p. 234 ; Plum, et Burm. t. 109. fig. sup. ; Pluck. Aim. 1. 17 1. fig. 2. 

 Crescentia latifolia, Lam. Diet. i. p. 558. 



Crescentia obovata, Benth. Bot. Sulph. p. 130, t. 46 ; Wlprs. Rep. vi. p. 517- 

 C7-esceniia ovata, Burm. Fl. Ind. p. 132; DeCand. Prodr. ix. p. 247- 

 Crescentia let/dfera, Tussac, Fl. des An til. iv. p. 50, 1. 17; Wlprs. Rep. vi. p. 517- 

 Crescentia toxicaria, Tussac, Fl. des Antil. iv. t. 17- 



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