398 LXIII. CUCURBITACEA. [ Colocynthis 
DC. Monogr. Phan. iii. p.508(1881); Ficalho, Pl. Uteis, p. 190 (1884). 
Colocynthis Citrullus O. Kuntze, Rev. Gen. Pl. i. p. 256 (1891). 
Loanpa.—A prostrate annual herb, scarcely glaucous ; branches very 
long; flowers moncecious, small, yellow ; fruit ellipsoidal, greenish, 
variously spotted, half the size of an orange or as large as one, not 
quite good in flavour. In sandy places and sandy clay among short 
bushes, also in waste places, throughout the district, especially between 
Camama and Catumba, abundant and indeed wild ; fl. and young fr. 
July 1858. Also a form with acutely-lobed leaves, in the sandy desert 
near Camama, at the beginning of Aug. 1858. No. 858. Fruit woolly 
when young, nearly glabrous when ripe, eaten by the negroes. In 
sandy places, cultivated or neglected, and in gravelly fields, along the 
sea coast, not uncommon; Praia de Zamba grande, Maiango do Povo, 
fl. and young fr. Feb. 1858; cultivated, Imbondeiro dos Lobos, 26 
March 1858. Native name ‘“ N-xibua” or “ Maxibua.” No. 8580. 
Punco AnponGo,—An apparently annual herb ; stems running out 
a long distance, tendrilled but scarcely scandent, indeed always 
prostrate ; flowers yellow, apparently moncecious ; ripe fruit very like 
that which the Portuguese call Melancia (water-melon). Nearly every- 
where in sandy places along the banks of the rivers Cuanza and Cuije ; 
near Quitage, fl. March 1857. A weak, hoary, narrow-leaved form or 
variety. No. 857. Fruit oblong-cylindrical, 14 to 2 in. long, eaten by 
the negroes. In fields between Condo and Quisonde, cultivated, March 
1857. But little different from the European water-melon. CoLL. 
Carp. 153. 
MossaMEpES.—An annual prostrate herb, resembling the water- 
melon in all parts ; fruit in shape and size resembling a quince, but 
sometimes much smaller and only 14 to 14 in. in diameter, usually 
scarcely larger than an orange, grass-green, variegated with white 
spots arranged in broad longitudinal rows, 3-celled ; flesh bitter and 
therefore scarcely touched by sheep ; seeds obovate, compressed but 
rather tumid, chestnut-coloured or brown-yellow, marked on both 
sides with black warts occasionally merging in lines. In sandy places 
along the banks of the river Bero, abundant ; both young and ripe fr. 
and few fl. beginning of July 1859; also in moist sandy places near 
the mouth of the river Giraul, at Fazenda do Senhor Paiva, frequently 
cultivated. Also a wild luxuriant form, and a form in drier hilly 
gravelly places. Called by the colonists “Melancia brava” (wild 
water-melon). No. 855. At the banks of the river Bero; fr. July 
1859. Cox. Carp. 49. 
Huriua.—An annual herb, spreading diffusely far and widely or 
extensively scandent ; pilose with white spreading hairs, scented almost 
like musk; leaves lobed-pinnatisect ; tendrils bifid; flowers herma- 
phrodite and male on the same plant, axillary, shortly pedunculate, 
yellow, the hermaphrodite ones the larger ; fruit eaten by the negroes 
but nearly always more or less bitter. In sandy, rather barren fields 
and in more fertile places formerly cultivated, abundant almost 
throughout the district; near Lopollo fl. and young fr. March and 
5 May, 1860; also by the river in Sobato Humpata, at the end of 
May 1860, specimens with the stem and petioles rather shaggy with 
rufous hairs. No. 856. Fruit as large as a child’s head, edible but 
almost insipid. In places of cultivation and neglected gardens, but 
scarcely cultivated ; seeds, April 1860. Native name, “ Ditangue ” or 
“ Mutangue.” CoLi. Carp. 47. Fruit eaten by sheep ; in gardens. 
Called ‘‘ Ditanga.” Con. Carp, 46. 
