148 cucurbitacejE. (gouhd family.) 



4. P. angUStifolia, Swartz. Lower leaves mostly 3-lobed, with the 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 l°-2° long. Leaves 

 sometimes entire. Flowers 4" - G" wide, yellowish. Bj^bfcoturple, as lar^e as 

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

 subulate. 



5. P. Warei, Nutt. Leaves on short biglandnlar petioles ; 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. pallida of the West Indies. 



Order Gl. CUCURBIT AC E7E. (Gourd Family.) 



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

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

 cious or dioecious. — Calyx 5-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-eelled. Stigmas 3. Fruit (/>cpo) fleshy or 

 pulpy, 1 - 3-celled. Seeds eompressed, anatropous, without albumen. 

 Cotyledons leafy. 



Synopsis. 



1. BRYONIA. Petals 5, distinct, or united at the base. Ovary 3-cellcd. Fruit 8-eeeded, 



smooth. 



2. IfELOTHRIA. Petals 5, united into a campanulate corolla. Ovary 3-^elled. Fruit 



many-seeded, smooth. 

 .:. -I' V08 Petals 5, united at the base into a rotate corolla. Ovary 1-cclled. Fruil 1- 

 6ecded, hispid. 



1. BRYONIA, L. 



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



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



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



1 33. Boykinii, Ton-. «.< 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. :5 - 5 in a cluster, short-pcdicelled ; styles 



united ; fruil 3-seedod ; the seeds •'? toothed at the base. — River-banks, Georgia, 

 and westward dune and July. — Stem- elongated. Flowers greenish-white. 

 I j. rry crimson. 



2. MELOTHRIA, L. 



Flowers polygamOQI or monoecious. Calyx of the fertile flower narrowed 

 above the owy ; the Sterile ones campanulate. Petals 5, united into a campanu- 



