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HaSyle fak'iforme of Cepede, and defcribed by him under 

 the genus Monodaftylus. Shaw's Zoology, vol. iv. pt. 2. 



TRICHOSANTHES, in Botany, elegantly fo called 

 by LiniiEeus, from v?!^, rpi^:i, a hair, and avflo,-, a Jlonvcr, 

 in allufion to the fine capillary fegments. which border the 

 corolla. The fame idea may be exprePTed in Eiigliih by 

 Hair-blofTom. — Lini. Gen. 505. Schreb. 661. Willd. 

 Sp. PI. V. 4. 598. Mart. Mill. Dia. V. 4. Ait. Hort. Kew. 

 V. 5. 340. JufT. 396. Lamarck Illuftr. t. 794. — Clafs 

 and order, Monoecta Syngi-nefa, Linn. Monoecia Palyadel- 

 phia rather, as fiiggefted in Sm. Introd. to Bot. cd. 3. 363. 

 Nat. Ord. Cuctirbitacex, Linn. JufT. 



Gen. Ch. Male, Cal. Perianth of one leaf, club-diaped, 

 very long, fmooth, with five fmall reflexed teeth at the 

 mojth. Cor. of one petal, united with the calyx, flat, 

 fpreading, deeply divided into five ovato-lanceolate fegments, 

 fringed with very long, branched, capillary, fpreading fub- 

 divifions. Stam. Filaments three, very fliort, crowning the 

 rim of the calyx ; anthers five, combined into a cylindrical 

 upright body, marked all over with a line curved up and 

 down in all direftions, bearing the pollen. 



Female, on the fame plant, Cal. Perianth as in the 

 male, fuperior, deciduous. Cor. as in the male. Pyi. 

 Germen inferior, oblong, flender ; (lyle thread-fhaped, 

 the length of the calyx ; iUgmas three, oblong, awl-(hapcd, 

 fplitting. Perlc. Berry oblong, coated, of three widely 

 feparated cells. Seeds numerous, comprelTed, obtufe, tuni- 

 cated. 



Eff. Ch. Male, Calyx with five teeth. Corolla in five 

 deep fegments, with a branched fringe. Filaments three. 



Female, Calyx with five teeth. Corolla in five deep 

 fegments, with a branched fringe. Style three-cleft. Berry 

 oblong. 



I. T. anguina. Snake Hair-bloflbm, or Snake Gourd. 

 Linn. Sp. PI. 1432. Willd. n. I. Ait. n. I. Curt. Mag. 

 t. 722. (Anguina finenfis, flore albo elegantiflimo, &c. ; 

 Mich. Gen. 12. t. 9. Mill. Ic. t. 32. Cucurbita finenfis, 

 fruftu longo anguino, &c. ; Till. Pif. 49. t. 22.) — Fruit 

 cylindrical, elongated, incurved. Leaves heart-lhaped, 

 lobed, wavy, with little pointed teeth. — Native of China 

 and Cochinchina, according to Micheli and Loureiro. A 

 tender annual in our ftoves, whofe feeds are often imported 

 from the Eail Indies. The herbage is trailing, luxuriant, 

 and much branched, like the reft of its tribe, with tendrils, 

 and broadifh melon-like leaves, whofe under furface is finely 

 downy. Flowers in loofe long-ftalked clujlers, confpicuous 

 for their fnowy whitenefs, and capillary or cobweb-hke 

 border, by which, in the warm ftillnefs of a ftovc, they 

 feem fufpended in the air, though the leaft breath might 

 deftroy them. The fruit, three or four feet long, and an 

 inch or two in diameter, of a dark (hining green, often 

 marked with white, more or lefs coiled or undulated, lies 

 on the ground, partly fhaded by the leaves, and has the 

 appearance, at firft fight, of a large fnake. Hence Micheli 

 took his generic name, which is moft. cojnmodioufly, as a 

 fpecific one, made into an adjeftive. 



z.H.fcabra. Rough Hair-bloiTom. Loureir. Cochinch. 

 589. Willd. n. 2. (T. angulata; Lamarck Did. v. i. 

 190? IVilld.) — Fruit roundifh, many-lobed. Leaves 

 roundifli-hcart-fliaped, rough, very rugged. Stalks fingle- 

 flowered.— Native of woods in Cochinchina, where it is 

 called Dtia nha tloi. Stem (hrubby, many-furrowed, climb- 

 ing by means of cloven tendrils. Leaves alternate, ftalked. 

 Flowers folitary, on fimple axillary ftalks, white, with a 

 Hiort fringe. Fruit fmall, red, roundilh, with twelve lobes, 

 and five cells. Seeds numerous, flat, oblong. This de- 

 Vol. XXXVL 



T R I 



fcription of Loureiro does not, as to the fruit, anfwer well 

 to the charafter of the genus ; but that part is known to 

 be the leaft uniform or conftant of any, in this tribe, even 

 in the fame fpecies. 



3. T . fatidi/ftma. Fetid Hair-bloflbm. Jacq. Coll. v. 2. 

 341. Ic. Rar. t. 624 — Fruit ovale, pointed, furrowed. 

 Leaves oblong-heart-fliaped, vifcid, nearly entire. Corolla 

 fringed with fimple teeth — Native of the coaft of Guinea. 

 Jacquin fays it proved a greeuhoufe plant with him, 

 flowering in fummer in the open air. The root is perennial, 

 tap-fhaped. Whole plant vifcid and fetid hkc putrid flefh, 

 or the Stapelia hirfuta, which odour adheres to the hands of 

 any perfon who touches it. Stems one or more, annual, her- 

 baceous, branched, leafy, rifing by tendrils to the height of 

 eight feet. Leaves drooping, hairy, ftalked, from one and 

 a lialf to three inches long ; paler beneath. Flowers fmall, 

 yellow ; their border befet with brirtly teeth. Fruit tawny, 

 meafuring with its beak about an inch and a half. No- 

 thing can lefs anfwer to the idea of the original fpecies 

 than the prefent, nor ought they to rank m the fame 

 genus. 



4. T. nervifolia. Rib-leaved Hair-bloflbm. Linn. Sp. 

 PI. 1432. Willd. n. 4. (Tota-piri; Rheede Hort. Malab. 

 V. 8. 33. t. 17. Raii Hift. v. 3. 337, not 377.) — " Fruit 

 ovate, acute. Leaves oblong-heart-lhaped, three-ribbed, 

 toothed." — Found about Cranganore, on the coaft of 

 Malabar, flowering in the rainy feafon. Stems flender. 

 Leaves paler beneath. Floiuers white, with a long entangled 

 fringe. Fruit hke a cucumber. A fneezing medicine is 

 made of the leaves, with garlick, fuppofed ufeful in the 

 epilepfy. The juice of thefe leaves, mixed with fome kind 

 of oil, is ufed to anoint the temples of maniacs ; to whom 

 alfo a fumigation, made by a woollen thread dipped into 

 the juice ef the leaves and bruifed fruit, and then burnt, is 

 thought in India to be beneficial. 



5. T. caudata. Beaked Hair-bloflbm. Willd. n. 5. 

 (T. cufpidata ; Lamarck Did. v. i. 190. Scheru-pada- 

 valam ; Rheede Hort. Malab. v. 8. 31. t. l6. Raii Hift, 

 v. 3. 337.) — Fruit turbinate -ovate, with an elongated point. 

 Leaves oblong, heart -fliaped, tliree-ribbed, toothed. — Native 

 of the Eaft Indies. Nearly related to the following, but 

 fmaller in every part, and the fruit is turbinate, crowned 

 with the tube of the calyx. 



6. T. cucumerina. Cucumber Hair-bloflbm. Linn. Sp. 

 PI. 1432. Willd. n. 6. Ait. n. 2. (Padavalam; Rheede 

 Hort. "Malab. v. 8. 30. t. 15. Raii Hift. v. 3. 337.)— 

 Fruit ovate, acute. Leaves roundifli-heart-fliaped, deeply 

 lobed, angular, wavy. — Native of fandy ground among trees, 

 on the Malabar coaft, flowering in June and July. Every 

 part is fetid. Root widely fpreading, fibrous, annual. 

 Stems herbaceous, angular, hairy, not very harfli. Leavet 

 foft and downy, divided down to the ftalk. Flowers white, 

 fmall, with a long entangled fringe. Fruit yellowifli ; the 



feeds lodged in red pulp. Prepared with fugar, this fruit 

 is thought to help digeftion, and cure pains of the ftomach 

 and bowels, killing worms, promoting cxpeftoration, 5cc. 

 The juice of the root is purgative and emetic, ufeful in inter- 

 mittent fevers. 



■J. T, amara. Bitter Hair-bloflbm. Linn. Sp. PI. 1432. 

 Willd. n. 7. (Colocynthis flore albo fimbriato, frudlu ob- 

 longo; Plum. Amer. 86. t. 100. Raii Hift. v. 3. 332.) 



Fruit oblong-obovate, obtufe. Leaves heart-fliaped, finu- 



ated, rough; dotted beneath — Gathered by Pluniier, in 

 the woods of Hifpaniola, flowering in December, and bear- 

 ing ripe fruit in April. The leaves are remarkably fmall, 

 hardly an inch and a half in breadth or lengtji, roughifli, 

 G g wtJ» 



