644 PHANEROGAMIA. 



A very imperfect fruiting specimen, from the Feejee Islands, appa- 

 rently belongs to this species; although the leaves are somewhat sca- 

 brous above, and the fructiferous peduncles very short. 



There are female specimens apparently of Karivia umbellata in the 

 collection, ticketed "Bay of Islands:" but there is probably some 

 mistake about the habitat, as neither Cunningham, Raoul, nor Hooker 

 have noticed the plant in New Zealand. 



3. LUFFA, Cav. 



1. LUFFA INSULARUM, Sp. Nov. 



L. caule sulcato glabro; foliis rotundis quinquelobatis vel quinquangu- 

 latis sinu profunda cordatis margine denticulatis seu repando-dentatis ; 

 racemis masculis elongatis; staminibus discretis ; calycis lobis fl. fozm. 

 eubtus glanduliferis ; fructu oblongo Icevi Jiaud sulcato bipollicari. 



Hab. Samoan or Navigators' Islands ; on Savaii and Upolu : climb- 

 ing trees. Tongatabu, Friendly Islands. Muthuata, Feejee Islands. 



This appears to be a truly indigenous and undescribed species, with 

 rounder and less dentate leaves than L. foetida and L. acutangida, 

 and a very small and even fruit. It is perhaps dioecious. Stem and 

 branches glabrous, sometimes scabrous, strongly grooved. Leaves 

 rotund, sometimes inclining to reniform, 3 to 5 inches in diameter, 

 deeply cordate with a narrow or closed sinus, five-angled, or sometimes 

 rather deeply five-lobed, scabrous both sides, or sometimes almost 

 smooth ; the lobes or angles rounded, or the terminal one occasionally 

 acuminate and a little prolonged, denticulate, or barely repand-toothed, 

 Tendrils two-cleft, or sometimes three-cleft. Male racemes elongated 

 (a span to a foot long, including the peduncle). Pedicels shorter 

 than the calyx ; the lobes of which are ovate-lanceolate and gland- 

 less; the petals ("yellow," according to Dr. Pickering's notes, but 

 seeming to have been white) obovate, entire, an inch or more in 

 length. Stamens 5, distinct: filaments short: anthers sinuous-con- 

 torted, with remote convolutions. Female flowers solitary in the 



