148 CUCURBITACE^. (GOURD FAMILY.) 



4. P. angustifolia, Swartz. Lower leaves mostly 3-lobed, with tlie lobes 

 lanceolate, obtuse, and entire ; upper leaves simple, lanceolate, and acute ; peti- 

 oles short, biglandular ; flowers small, solitary or by pairs, the peduncles short 

 and bractless ; petals none — South Florida. — Stem 1 ° - 2° long. Leaves 

 sometimes entire. Flowers 4" -6" wide, yellowish. Berry purple, as large as 

 a pea. Filaments of the crown in 2 rows. Stamens occasionally 4. Stipules 

 subulate. 



5. P. Warei, Nutt. Leaves on short biglandular petlbles ; the lower ones 

 3-lobed, acute ; the upper ovate or oblong, undivided ; stipules subulate ; pedun- 

 cles commonly by pairs, about the length of the petioles ; flowers very small ; 

 segments of the crown few, filiform, shorter than the calyx. — South Florida. — 

 Probably identical with P. paUida of the West Indies. 



Order 61. CUCURBITACEiE. (Gourd Family.) 



Herbs, with succulent stems, climbing by moans of lateral tendrils. 

 Leaves alternate, palmately veined or lobed. Flowers axillary, monoe- 

 cious or dioecious. — Calyx t5-toothed, adnate to the ovary. Corolla of 5 

 distinct, or more or less united petals, coherent with the calyx. Stamens 

 3-5, free or variously united. Anthers long, straight or tortuous, com- 

 monly connate. Ovary 1 - 3-celled. Stigmas 3. Fruit (pcpo) fleshy or 

 pulpy, 1 - 3-eelled. Seeds compressed, anatropous, without albumen. 

 Cotyledons leafy. 



Synopsis. 



1. BRYONIA. Petals 5, distinct, or united at tlie base. Ovary 3-celled. Fruit 3-6eeded, 



smooth. 



2. MELOTHRIA. FetaLs 5, united into a eampanulate corolla. Ovary 3-celIed. Fruit 



many-seeded, smooth. 



3. SICYOS. Petals 5, united at the base into a rotate corolla. Ovary 1-celled. Fruit 1- 



seeded, hispid. 



1. BRYONIA, L. 



Flowers monoecious or dioecious. Calyx 5-toothed. Petals 5, distinct, or 

 united at the base. Stamens 5, triadelphous : anthers tortuous. Style mostly 

 3-cleft. Fruit ovate or globose, smooth, few-seeded. 



1. B. Boykmii, Torr. & Gray. Rough-pubescent; leaves broadly cor- 

 date, 3 - 5-lobed ; the lateral lobes entire or toothed, the middle one cuspidate ; 

 sterile and fertile flowers intermixed, 3-5 in a cluster, short-pedicelled ; styles 

 united ; fruit 3-seeded ; tlie seeds 3-toothed at the base. — Kiver-banks, Georgia, 

 and westward. June and July. — Stems elongated. Flowers greenish-white. 

 Berry crimson. 



2. MELOTHRIA, L. 



Flowers polygamous or monoecious. Calyx of the fertile flower narrowed 

 above the ovary; the sterile ones eampanulate. Petals 5, united into a campanu- 



