CUCURBITACE^. 85 



the projections between them. Petals deep-purple. — S. W. 

 Ontario. 



2. L. Saliea'ria, L. (Spiked Loosestbitb.) More or less 

 downy and tall. Flowers purple, crowded, and forming an 

 interrupted spike. Stamens twice as many as the petals, in 

 two sets. — Atl. Prov. Also at Ottawa and opposite Mon- 

 treal. 



8. NES^'A, Commerson, Jus3. SWAMP Loosestrife. 



N. vertieilla'ta, H. B. K. {Dec'odon vertidllatus, Ell.) 

 Stems curving, 2-6 feet long, 4-6-sided. Leaves lanceolate, 

 mostly whorled. Flowers purple, in the axils of the upper 

 leaves. Calyx bell-shaped, with 5-7 erect teeth, with sup- 

 plementary projections between them. Stamens 10, exserted, 

 5 longer than the rest. — Swamps. 



Order XL. CUCURBIT A' CEyE. (Gourd Family.) 

 Herbs, climbing by tendrils. Flowers monoecious. Calyx- 

 tube adherent to the 1-3-celled ovary. Corolla commonly 

 more or less gamopetalous. Stamens usually 3, united by 

 their tortuous anthers, and often also by the filaments. 

 Leaves alternate, palmately lobed or veined. 



Synopsis of the Geuera. 



1. Sl'cyos. Flowers f?reenish-white, small ; the staminate corymbed, 



the pistillate clustered in a head on a long peduncle. Corolla 5- 

 cleft, with a spreading border. Style slender ; stigmas 3. Ovary 

 1-celled. Fruit dry and indeliiscent, prickly, bur-like in appear- 

 ance. 



2. Ecliinocys'tis. Flowers whitish, small ; the staminate in long 



compound racemes, the pistillate in small clusters from the same 

 axils. Corolla S-parted. Stigma broad, almost sessile. Ovary 

 2-celled, 4-seeded. Fruit fleshy, becoming dry, clothed with weak 



prickles. 



1. Srci'OS, L. Star Cucumber. 



S. angnla'tUS, L. A clammy-hairy weed in damp yards. 

 Leaves roundish heart-shaped, 5-angled or lobed. 



2. ECniXOCl'S'TIS, Torr. and Gray. Wild Bai.sam-Apple. 



E. loba'ta, Torr. and Oray. Climbing high about dwel- 

 lings. Leaves deeply and sharply 5-lobed. The oval fruit 

 2 inches long. 



