183 xsxi. PASSIPLOEEAE. [Passiflora. 



parietal placentas^ each with numerous ovules ; styles 3—5, cohering at the 

 base ; stigmas terminal. Fruit coriaceous or succulent, 3— 5-valved or indehis- 

 cent. Seeds numerous, often arillate ; embryo straight ; endosperm fleshy ; 

 cotyledons foliaceous. Usually climbers, with entire or palmatifid stipulate 

 leaves and hermaphrodite or unisexual solitary or racemose axillary flowers. 

 A large tropical and subfcropioal family of wide distribution. 



1. PASSIFLORA, Linn. 



Calyx-tube short; lobes 4 or 5. Petals as many or rarely 0, sometimes 



resembling the sepals. One or several series of filaments form a corona within 



the petals. Stamens 4 or 5, adnate with the stalk of the ovary ; anthers 



versatile. Styles 2 or 3 ; stigmas capitate, large. Fruit succulent, indehiscent 



or imperfectly 3-valved. Climbers, with stipulate simple or palmatifid leaves and 



axillary tendrils. Flowers dioecious or hermaphrodite. 



A large genus, comprising about 125 species, widely distributed. The only New Zealand 

 species is endemic, and constitutes the section Tetrapathaea. Name, an adaptation olflos passionis, 

 applied to the flower from the supposed resemblance of its parts to the instruments of the cruci- 

 fixion. 



1. P. tetrandra, Banks and Sol. ex DC, Prod. iii. 323. A glabrous 

 climber, ascending the loftiest trees. Stem sometimes 50ft. long, 3in.— 4in. in 

 diameter. Branchlets slender. Leave:* alternate, lin.— 4in. long, lanceolate or 

 ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, glossy. Tendrils very slender, elongated. Flowers 

 in 2— 4-flowered cymes or solitary, articulated with the short pedicels, unisexual, 

 tetramerous. Petals as long as the sepals, but membranous. Coronal filaments 

 yellow, shorter than the petals. Ovary stipitate, usually with adnate staminodia 

 at its base ; styles 2 or rarely 3. Fruit subglobose, lin. or more in diameter, 

 bright orange -coloured. Seeds compressed, wrinkled, black. — A. Cunn., 

 Precurs. n. 524; Hook, f., Fl. N.Z. i. 73; Handbk. 81. Tetrapathaea australis, 

 Raoul., Choix. t. 27. 



NORTH and SOUTH Islands ; Mangonui to Banks Peninsula. Ascends to 2,800ft. Kohia. 

 Dec, Jan. 



The seeds afiord a pure oil, valued by watchmakers, armourers, &c. 



Oedbe XXXII.-CUCURBITACEAE. 

 Calyx-tube superior, produced above the ovary ; limb campanulate or 

 tubular, 5-lobed or toothed. Petals 5, free or coherent, often confluent below 

 with the calyx-tube. Male : stamens 3-5, inserted below the petals ; filaments 

 free or coherent ; anthers often confluent, forming a wavy or curved mass. 

 Female : ovary inferior, usually 1 -celled when young, with 3 or more pla- 

 centas which are produced inwards until they meet in the axis and form a 

 3 or more celled ovary, or with 1 placenta and remaining 1 -celled ; style 3-fid 

 or 3-partite ; stigmas 3, entire or lobed ; cells 1- or niany-ovaled. Fruit 

 succulent or coriaceous, usually indehiscent, few- or many-seeded. Seeds 

 usually flat ; testa coriaceous or bony ; endosperm ; cotyledons large ; radicle 



