Eerpetosjpermum.'] lxv. cucuebitaceji. (C. B. Clarke.) 613 



5. KXSRFETOSPERXWUIKE, Wall. 



Extensively scandent, tendrils 2-3-fid. Leaves long-petioled, cordate, ovate, 

 little lobed. Flowers large, yellow, dioecious ; males frequently two peduncles 

 from one axil, one early deciduous 1-flowered the other racemose without 

 bracts ;_ females solitary on very short peduncles. MaIiE : calyx-tuhe elongate, 

 cylindric at the base, above narrow funnel-shaped ; teeth 5, long, linear ; petals 

 5, elliptic, nearly separate, entire: stamens 3 ; anthers connate, included, one 

 l-ceUed, two 2-celled, cells conduplicate, Fbhaub : calyx and corolla as in the 

 male; ovary oblong, 3-celled, sfyle long, with three oblong bifid stigmatic 

 lobes ; ovules pendulous, 4-6 in each cell. Fruit broad-oblong, narrowed at 

 both ends, 3-angular, irregularly sinuate-costate, valves 3 separating from the 

 axis nearly to the base. Seeds in two rows in each cell, flat, oblong, pendulous, 

 the lower end corrugate or aJmost 3-lobed. 



1. K. caudl^erum, Wall. Cat. 6761. Bryonia? pedunculosa, Sei-inge 

 in BC. Prodr. iii. 306. Bampinia herpetospermoides, C. B. Clarke in Joum. 

 lAnn. Soe. xv. 130. 



Tempeeate Himalaya, from Simla and Kumaon to Bhotan, alt. 5000-8000 ft. ; 

 very eommon in Sikkim. Khasia Mts. ; Wallich. 



Stem and peduncles more or less pubescent. Leaves 4-6 in. long and broad, usu- 

 ally pubescent on both surfaces, serrate, acuminate ; petiole 2-4 in. Male peduncle 

 8 in., pedicels 1 in., hairy. Calyx-tube 1 in., pubescent without. Petals often 1 in. 

 Eudiment of the ovary in the male linear, simple. Fruit 3 by 1^ in., more or less 

 pubescent. Seeds usually 12 sometimes, 18, ^ by J and J in., thick, often exhibiting 

 (■when dried) wavy marks on the surface, packed in a fibrous almost juiceless pulp.— 

 Wallich's Khasia specimen exhibits ripe seeds which are very narrow, incised at the 

 lower end so that the middle lobe appears as a spinous tooth. Lady Dalhousie's 

 examples collated at Simla are nearly glabrous with smaller flowers. Herpetosper- ' 

 mmaoi Bth. ^ Hk. f. Gen. PI. i. 834, described from imperfect materials, includes 

 H. caudigemm, Warea tonglensisani Edgaria daajeeUngensis. The generic character 

 did not fit Warea or Edgaria and required emendation as to the ovules and seeds 

 of Wallich's Herpetospermum. 



X.Aez:NAXlZA, Serii 



Large climbers, pubescent, tendrils 2-fld. Leaves ovate or orbicular, cordate, 

 dentate ; petiole long, with two glands at its apex. Flowers large, white, soli- 

 biry, monoecious or dioecious, the males long- the females short-peduncled. 

 Maxe : calyx-tube funnel-shaped subcampanulate, teeth 5 narrow ; petals 5, 

 free, obovate ; stamens 3 ; anthers connate, included, one 1-ceUed, two 2-celled, 

 cells conduplicate ; rudiment of ovary 0. Fbmaub : calyx and corolla as in the 

 male ; ovary oblong, style short with 3 bifid stigmatic lobes ; ovules many, 

 horizontal ; placentas 3, vertical. Fruit large, ultimately thick membranous or 

 almost woody, indehiscent, polymorphous, usually broader upwards. Seeds 

 very many, horizontal, compressed, with a marginal groove, smooth. 



1. Xi. vulg'arls, Seringe in DC. Prodr. iii. 299 ; W. 8f A. Prodr. 341 ; 

 Wight III. t. 105* ; Kurz in Joum. As. Soc. 1877, pt. ii. 100. L. vittata, 

 hispida and idolatrica, Seringe I. c. 299. Oucurbita Lagenaria, Linn. ; Lamh. 

 III. t. 795 ; Roxh. Fl. Ind. iii. 718 ; Wall. Cat. QIIQ.—Mheede Hart. Mai 

 viii. t. 5. 



