378 CUCUBBITACEM. [.Melothriav 



small louiid ovoid or fusiform. Seeds usually many, ovoid or oblong,, 

 compressed rarely tn I gid, usually margined, smooth rarely rough.: — 

 Species about 60, in the tropical regions of both hemispheres. 



Male flowers in corymhs, connective of stamens 

 not prolonged, seeds smooth. 



Flowers mouoecious ; seeds small, much 



compressed i. -M". perpusilla. 



Flowers dioecious ; seeds large, turgid . 2, M. heterophylla,. 

 Male flowers in clusters, connective of stamens 



produced, seeds rough . . . . . 3. M, 'maderaspatana^. 



1. M. perpusilla, Cogn. in DC. Mon. Phan. in, 607. Bryonia Hookeri- 

 ana, W. 6f A. Prod. 345. B. cissioides. Wall.; Royle III. 218. Zehneria 

 Hookeriana, Am.: F. h. I. ii, 624. 



Stems very slender. Leaves 2-3^ in. long, ovate, cordate, entire or angled, 

 rarely o-c-lobed, acute mucronate or shortly acuminate, denticulate,, 

 scabrous above and usually glabrous beneath ; ^ttiole l\-2 in. long. 

 Flowers monoecious, pale-yellow, the males capitate or umbellate at the 

 apex of the common peduncle. Calyx-teeth very short, recurved. Fila- 

 ments ^^.llous, connective not produced. Fein, fioivers solitary or sub- 

 umbelled. Fruit globose | in. in diam., finely reticulate, glabrous. 

 Seeds small, compressed, distinctly margined, smooth. 



Dehra Dun (Eoyle), Bahraich dist. N. Oudh (Duthie"s collector). Dis- 

 TEiB. Nepal, E. Bengal, E. Himalaya up to c,000 ft., S. India to Ceylon, 

 and in Java. 



2. M. heterophylla, Cogn. in DC. Mon. Phan. Hi, 618. Bryonia um- 

 bellata, ivterji.; \V. 6f A.Prod. 345 ; B. Sf G. Bomh. Ft. 101. Momordica 

 umbellata, Poxh. Fl. Ind. Hi, /lO. Y B. filiformis, Eoxh. I.e. 727. Zehneria 

 umbellata, Thwaites ; F. B. 1. %i, 625 {in^art) ; Watt E. D. 



A perennial herb with tuberous roots. Tendrils very long. Leaves very 

 Yariable, ovate oblong suborbicular or narrowly lanceolate in outline, 

 entire or variously lobed, and sometimes nearly to the base, often cor- 

 date or hastate at the base, acute or acuminate, denticulate, rough 

 above, usually smooth, beneath, illak J^owers corymbose. Cal^a- glab- 

 rous; teeth subulate. Corocla yellowish- white. Anthers densely 

 ciliate. Female jioivers solitary, on short peduncles, FrvAt |-1| in., 

 oblong, cylindric, red when ripe. /Seeds many, subglobose, not margined, 

 smooth. 



Common within the area, and throughout India to Ceylon : also in China, 

 Cochinchina and in Java. The fruit is eaten raw by the natives , and 

 the roots are boiled and eaten. The seeds and leaves are used medi- 

 cinally. It is an extremely variable species, of which Cog-niaux in his 

 Monograph (I.e.) describes 12 distinct forms founded on the shapes of 

 the leaves. One of these is the var, nepalensis of F. B. I. (I.e.), which 

 is a common plant on the W. Himalaya between 4,001' and 7,lOU ft. and 

 may be distinguished by its deeply palmate leaves and by the ovary 

 which is densely velvety. 



