^chmandra.] cucuiibitaceje. 125 



Hongkong, Harland and Hance. Apparently common in nortH-eastern India. I had at 

 first thought that this Chinese form, with more distinctly cordate leaves and a longer herry, 

 might he specifically distinct from the Indian one, but on further comparison it does not ap- 

 pear that the single specimen I have seen is sufficient to justify its separation. 



3. MOMOEDICA, Linn. 



Calyx campanulate, 5-lobed. Petals 5, distinct. Male flowers : Stamens 

 3, inserted near the petals in the tube of the calyx. Filaments short, free. 

 Anthers sinuous, covering the connective, 2 of them 2-celled, the third 1-oelled. 

 Female flowers : Ovary contracted at the top. Stigmas 3, on a short style, 

 3-lobed. Fruit oblong or ovoid, usually opening elastically in valves. — Pe- 

 duncles both male and female 1-flowered. 



A small tropical or subtropical genus, common to the New and the Old World. 



1. ]M[. charantia, Linn.; DC. Prod. ii. 311; Wight, Ic. t. 504. A 

 glabrous or pubescent slender climber.. Leaves thin, broadly cordate or orbi- 

 cular, 3 to 3 in. diameter, more or less deeply divided into 5 or 7 sinuately 

 toothed lobes. Peduncles slender, \\ to 3 in. long, with a reniform entire 

 bract, 3 to 6 lines broad, at about the middle of the male peduncles and nearer 

 the base of the female ones. Calyx-lobes ovate, acute, about 3 lines long. 

 Petals more than twice as long, obovate-orbicular, yellow. Fruit ovoid or 

 oblong, usually beaked, more or less tuberculate or muricate, often 4 or 5 in. 

 long. 



Half spontaneous, climbing over shrubs, Hance. Widely spread over East India and some 

 parts of Africa, but frequently escaped from cultivation. 



4. CITRtTLLUS, Schrad. 



Calyx shortly and broadly campanulate, with 5 short teeth. Corolla deeply 

 5-lobed. Male flower : Stamens 3, inserted at the base of the calyx. Fila- 

 ments free, short. Anthers sinuous, 3 of them 3-celled, the third 1-celled. 

 Female flower : Ovary ovoid. Stigmas 3, nearly sessile, 2-lobed. Fruit largej 

 globular, indehiscent, with a hard rind. — Peduncles both male and female 1- 

 flowered. 



Besides the following, the genus contains one other species, also a native of Africa. 



1. C. VTxlgaris, Schrad. ; Naud. in- Ann. So. Nat. Tar. ser. 4, xii. 100. 

 A coarse annual, more or less hairy. Leaves 3 to 5 in. long, sometimes broadly 

 ovate-cordate, with broad short o))tuse lobes, sometimes deeply pinnatifid, with 

 narrow obtuse sinuate or pinnatifid lobes. Peduncles short, hairy. Male 

 flowers pale yellow, about 1 in. diameter. Fruit usually large, variously co- 

 lom-ed, always more or less glaucous. 



Known as the Water-Melon, and of African origin ; it is said to have become naturalized in 

 many places in Hongkong, as over a great part of tropical Asia. 



Order XLVI. BEGONIACE-ffi. 



Flowers unisexual. Sepals or petals 3 to 8, all coloured, of which 3 or 3 

 outer ones (sepals), and 2 to 5 inner and often smaller (petals), the latter oc- 

 casionally wanting. Male flowers : Stamens indefinite, filaments free or van- 



