402 LXIII. CUCURBITACE, [Cucunbita 
thick ; fruit ellipsoidal, when young as large as a pigeon’s egg, some- 
what furrowed or rather lined longitudinally, with white flesh, flavoured 
like a cucumber. In sandy maritime stations near Boa Vista, quite 
wild but probably introduced and an escape from cultivation; fl. and 
young fr. beginning of Aug, 1858. No 841. 
4. C. ficifolia Bouché in Verh. Ver. Gartenb. Berl. xii. p. 205 
(1837); Cogn., Le., p. 547. 
C. melanosperma A. Braun, Cat. Hort. Karlsr., 1824 (name 
only); Hook. f., dc. p. 556 in note; Ficalho, lc, p. 192. 
MossaMEDES (and DanDE).—Ripe fruit perfectly ellipsoidal, rather 
flattened at both ends, not ribbed, of a bright grass-green colour, 
speckled with white spots at equal distances ; flesh bright-yellow, 
turning red and very firm ; seeds always black. The fruit is frequently 
preserved in sugar and in this state very highly appreciated for dessert. 
Occasionally cultivated in gardens about Mossamedes, where it had 
been recently introduced ; ripe fr. at Cavalheiros, June 1860 (also by 
the river Dande). Called by the Portuguese colonists “ Abobora Xila ” 
or “ Abobora Chila,” No. 834 and Cou. Carp. 142. 
18. MELOTHRIA L.; Benth. & Hook. f. Gen. Pl. i. p. 830. 
Zehneria Endl.; Benth. & Hook. f., Ze, p. 830. Mukia Arn.; 
Benth. & Hook., dc., p. 829. 
1, M. tridactyla Hook. f. in Oliv. FI. Trop. Afr. ii. p. 562; 
Cogn. in DC. Monogr. Phan. iii. p. 596 (1881). 
GoLuNnco ALTO.—A glaucous-green, moncecious, twining herb, climb- 
ing widely but not high ; flowers yellow, the female ones solitary, the 
male ones sometimes solitary, at other times arranged in weak racemes ; 
peduncles delicately capillary. In herbaceous shady parts of the 
primitive forests of Quibanga in Sobato de Mussengue on the left- 
hand side of the road from Sange to Ambaca; fl. and fr. middle of 
Dec. 1855. -No. 826. 
2. M. triangularis Benth. in Hook. Niger Fl. p. 367 (1849) ; 
Hook. f., i.¢., p. 562. 
Bryonia capillacea Schum. & Thonn. in Danske Vidensk. Selsk. 
iv. p. 204 (1829); I. capillacea Cogn., t.c., p. 600. 
Gotunco ALTO.—A glaucous-green, twining herb, with very small, 
yellow flowers. At the borders of thickets on the north side of Serra 
de Alto Queta, very sporadic ; fl. and fr. middle of Dec. 1855, and in 
Jan. 1856. No. 827. 
3. M. lucida Cogn., J.c., p. 606. 
Pilogyne lucida Naud. in Ann. Sc. Nat., Ser. 5, v. p. 36, t. 6 
(1866). Zehneria lucida Hook. f., ic. p. 559, in note. 
GoLuneo ALTo.—In the shade of the forests of Mata de Quibdlo ; 
without either fl. or fr. August 1856. No. 862. 
4, M. angolensis Cogn., i.c., p. 606. 
Zehneria angolensis Hook. f., Le., p. 559. 
GoLunco ALTO,—On bushy declivities along streams in the moun- 
tainous parts of Serra de Alto Queta, rather rare ; scarcely in good f., 
Nov. 1855. No. 842. A herb, climbing horizontally ; flowers small, 
white ; fruit scarlet. In thickets at the borders of primitive forests 
in Serra de Alto Queta, at Zengas do Queta ; in fr. and sparingly in 
male and female fl. Dec. 1855. No, 844. A widely climbing herb ; 
