360 Obdeb 55.— GROSSULACEA 



4 C. graiidiflorus DC. Creeping, rooting; st. with about 5 angles; fis. 

 terminal and lateral, very large, nocturnal ; petals spreading, shorter than the 

 linear-lanceolate sepals. — From the W. Indies. Sts. cyhndrio or prismatic, 

 branching, the angles not very prominent Pis. expanding by night, and endur- 

 ing but a few hours, 8 to 12' diam. Sepals brown without, yellow within. Pet- 

 als white. A magnificent flower, of difficult culture, f 



5 C. flagelliformis DC. Snake Cactus. St. creeping, with about 10 

 angles, hispid ; fls. lateral, diurnal ; tube slender, longer than the limb of the pet- 

 als. — From S. Am. St. about the size of the little finger, cylindric, indistinctly 

 articulated, 2 to 5f long. Fls. of a lively pinic color, smaller than those of the 

 last, and continuing in bloom several days, j 



3. MELOCAC'TUS, Bauh. IiIelon TeisTLs. Turk's Cap. (Com- 

 pounded of melon and cactus, from its form.) Calyx tube adherent to 

 the ovary, lobes 5 to 6, petaloid ; petals as many as sepals, united with 

 them into a long, cylindric tube ; stamens and style filiform ; stigma 5- 

 rayed ; berry smooth, crowned with the withered calyx and corolla. — 

 Suifrutioous, fleshy, leafless. Spadix simple, crowning the globular, 

 deeply -furrowed axis. Fls. terminal. 



M. comiTLunia link. Axis ovato-subglobous, darli green, 12 to IS-angled ; 

 ribs straight; spines fasciculate, subequal. — isTative of the Caribbean Island.^. 

 This remarkable plant appears lilte a large, green melon, with deep furrows and 

 prominent ribs, and is fuU of juice. It is surmounted with a spadix, whicli 

 is cylindric, tuberculate, densely tomentous, bearing the red flowers at the 

 summit, f 



4. MAMMILA'RIA, Hawarth. (Lat. mamma, the breasts ; alluding 

 to the tubercles.) Flowers and fruit similar to the preceding genus.- — 

 Stock roundish or cylindrical, covered with conical or mammseform 

 tubercles, spirally arranged and tipped with a cluster of spines in wool. 

 FJs. sessile among the tubercles. 



M. niacr6meris Engelm. Bright green, with large, pear-shaped tubercles, 

 each surmounted by a cluster of straight, slender spines, and large (near 3' diam.) 

 carmine-roseate flowers, f From New Mexico. — Other species are cultivated in 

 the green-bouse. 



Order LV. GROSSULACE^. Currants. 



Low shrubs, often prickly with alternate, palmately lobed loaves. Caltx 5-lobed, 

 adlierent to the 1-celled ovary, bearing at top the corolla of 5 petals alternating with 

 the 5 shoi-t stamens. Anih. introrse. Fruit a l-ceUed, inferior Iterry with 2 parietal 

 placenta;. Styles 2. Seeds CO, cmOryo minute, in abundant homy albumen. (Figa 



67, 309.) 



Genera 1, species 95. The gooseberries and currants iire natiTcs of the N, temperato zone of 

 both eontinente, but unknown in the tropica or S. hemisphere, except 8. America. 



PropertUs. Tlie berries contain a sweet, raucilaginous pulp, together with malic or citric 

 acid. Tboy are always wholesome, and usually esculent. 



i. RFBES, L. Currants. (Named from the Arabic.) Character 

 the same as that of the Order. 



5 CtTRKANTS. Sterna unarmed. Lvs. convolute in bnd. Fls. yellow No. 1 



i CuEEANin. Stems unarmed. Lvs. plicate in bud.— Fruit hairy Nos. 2— 4 



— Fruit smooth Nob. 0—7 



S GooSEBEKKiKs. Stems spincscont. Lts. plicate.— Fruit hispid Nos.S, 9 



— Fruit smooth. — Ped. very short.Nos. 10, 1 1 

 — Pcd. long Nos. 13— U 



1 R. ai!ireum Ph. Missouri, or Golden Currant. Plant smooth; lvs. 

 3-lobed, lobes divaricate, entire or with a few large teeth ; petioles longer than 

 the leaves ; bracts linear, as long as the pedicels ; raa lax, with many bright yel- 

 low fls. ; cal. tubular, longer than the pedicels, segm. oblong, obtuse ; petals 



