62 



"capsule" covered with hooked spines; the woody tissues ex- 

 tending into the beak split on the drying and hardening of the 

 capsule, forming two long horns. As the fruit lies upon the 

 ground in its natural position, these horns curve upwards and 

 backwards over the pod-like body of the capsule (Fig. 1); they 

 have become somewhat distorted in the "Wolvercote specimen" 

 and one of them is evidently broken, being shorter than the 

 other. (The length of the body of the capsule in this case is 3 

 inches, and of the longer horn, 5 inches; it appears to be an 

 average-sized specimen.) On the upper surface of the capsule, 

 there is a prominent line of hooked spines, directed towards the 

 horns; these spines are well-shown in the drawing. The seeds 

 escape by the median longitudinal splitting of the capsule, be- 

 ginning at the top end, as indicated in the Wolvercote specimen 

 and in Fig. 1. 



Various members of the Martyniaceae are cultivated as 

 ornamental plants on account of their large showy flowers; 

 those of M. lutea Lindl., a Brazilian species, are yellowish-green 

 externally and orange-yellow within the corolla-tube; M. fra- 

 grans Lindl., a native of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and N. 

 Mexico, has reddish-purple or violet-purple flowers; while M. 

 Louisiana Mill, has dull white or yellowish corollas flecked in- 

 ternally with yellow or purple. Some species of Martynia are 

 also grown in the vegetable garden, their young fruits, before 

 hardening has taken place, being used as a pickle, in the same 

 way as young cucumbers; M.jragrans, for example, was intro- 

 duced into England for this purpose in 1731, 1 though it is rarely, 

 if ever, met with now, the cool, damp English climate — very 

 different from that of its native habitat — being unsuitable for 

 its cultivation. 



M. Louisiana, as mentioned above, is a native of certain 

 western and southern States; Bailey notes that it has become 

 naturalized farther to the east and north. It is a plant, however 

 which has travelled far beyond the States, for it may now be 

 found in a naturalized condition in South Africa. The writer is 

 indebted to Dr Burtt Davy for an explanation of its occurrence 

 so far from its native area. 



1 Sanders, T. W. "The Encyclopaedia of Gardening." London, Colling- 

 ridge (n. d.). Pp. 262, 263. 



