IIUN
at. O r b . X X V I I I . C U C U R B ITA C EÆ , Jim.
Gen. I. SICYOS, L.
Flores nnisexuales. F l. masc. racemosi. Calyx campanulatus, 5-dentatus. Corolla calyce continua,
5-loba. Stamina filamentis in columnam coalitis ; antlieris liberis, 1-locularibus. F l. foem. capitati,
umbeUati V. soUtarii, pedunculati. limbus campanulatus, 5-deutatus. Oyanim 1-loculare ; ovulo
solitario ; stylo 3-fido. Fructus ovatus, coriaceus, liispidus v. spinosus.
Prostrate or climbing, alternate-leaved herbs, with tendiils from tbe axils of the leaves, and axillary unisexual
flowers. Male flowers racemose. Calyx campanulate, five-toothed. Corolla five-lobed, continuous with tbe calyx.
Stamens three to five, their filaments united into a column; anthers free, one-celled. Female flowers capitate on an
axillary peduncle, solitary or umbellate. Calyx-tube adnate rvith the (one-celled, one-ovirled) ovary ; limb campanulate,
free, five-toothed. trifid. Fruit a. coriaceous, hispid or spinous, ovate, one-celled nut; seed one, pendulous.—
A small, chiefly western American genus, of which the present is the only one of the large Natural Order
to wliich it belongs, found in Tasmania or New Zealand. The species of Sicyos are variable, aud some of them very
ividely spread, especially the present, which is found in Tasmania, Australia, Norfolk Island, the United States,
Mexico, and throughout South America to Bonaria and South Brazil.—A few species inhabit the Pacific Islands,
and with the present are the only extra-American ones known. (Name, aiKvosy a cucumbei'; from the habit of this
plant, which is allied to that genus.)
1. Sicyos angulatus, Linn. ; pubescens v. glabratus, foliis late reniformi-cordatis ovato-cordatisve varie
3 -7 -lobatis, lobis acutis acuminatisve dentatis basi 2-lobis sinu rotundato, cirrhis 3-5-fidis, fl. rf cymoso-
racemosisve glanduloso-pilosis glabratisve, fructibus ovatis hispido-echinatis. Forst. Frodr. A. Rich. Flora.
S. australis, FndL Frodr. Fl. Norf. A. Cunn. Frodr. S. fretensis, Hooh.fll. Lond. Journ. Bot. v. 6. p . 473.
H a b . Northern and Middle Islands; chiefly on the eastern coasts, Forster, etc. Nat. name, “ Ma-
whai,” Col.
Stems trailing or climbing, pilose or smooth. Leaves petiolate, very variable in size, two to six inches across,
scabrous or smooth, broadly reniform, cordate or ovate, three- to seven-lobed ; lobes acute, toothed, deeply bilobed,
cordate at the base, with a rounded sinus. Flowers variable in size ; male in racemes, 1-4 inches long, pedicellate,
smooth or covered with long glandular hairs, 2-5 lines broad; female smaller, capitate on a short peduncle, corolla
pedicellate. Fruits five to seven, ovate, i-A inch long, pilose or smooth, but covered with spines, which, being
barbed, are the means of attaching the seeds to animals, and so dispersing them.—I can find no difference between
these and American specimens, in either foliage or inflorescence ; it varies extremely in size in both hemispheres.
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I i i i i ' I Î '
N at. Okd. XXIX, PASSIFLOREkE, Juss.
Gen. I. PASSIFLORA, 1.
Mores uni-bi-sexuales. Sepala 4 -5 . Petala 4 -5 , basi corona fiiamentorum instructa. Stamina 4-5 ;
fiiamentis basi in coiumnam pedicello ovarii accretam coaiitis, superne iiberis, divaricatis ; antheris 2-locularibus,
versatiUbus. Ovarium stipitatum, ovoideum, 1-loculare; ovulis plurimis, placentis 8 parietalibus
affixis; stylis .3, stigmatibus capitatis. Bacca carnosa. Semina numerosa; testa reticulata v. rugosa.,
Crustacea.
The New Zealand Passion-flower is a perfectly smooth climbing plant, with altemate, simple, petiolate leaves,
axillary tendrils, and small axillary panicles of green flowers, that only differ from those of the American
Passion-flowers in being dicecious and tetramerous. Sepals and petals four, oblong, blunt, with a ring of filaments
at the base of the latter. Stamens four (those of the female flower, small, empty); filaments united at the base
into a column, above filiform and diverging. Anthers two-celled. Ovarium stipitate (stipes suiTounded by the tube
of filaments), ovoid, one-celled, with three short styles, terminated by capitate stigmata, and three parietal many-
ovuled placentas. Berry fleshy, globose, many-seeded; seeds compressed, oblong; testa crustaceous, rugose.—This
genus is almost wholly a native of South America, where very many kinds are found, some of which are great ornaments
of English stoves; three or four are found in India; and a similar genus, Disemma, Lab., inhabits Australia,
Norfolk Island, New Caledonia, and probably other Pacific Islands. M. Raoul has made of the New Zealand plant
a new genus, I think unnecessarily. (Name from patior, I suffer, and flos, a flower; because the South American
missionaries saw the emblems of onr Saviour’s passion in this plant.)
I . Passifiora tetrandra, Banks et Sol.; glaberrima, M is petiolatis ovatis ovato-lanceolatisve integerrimis
acuminatis eglandulosis, involucris nullis, peduncuhs axillaribus 2-4-floris, floribus abortu monoicis
4-meris, styhs 3. Banks et Sol. MSS. et Ic. LC. Frodr. A. Cunn. Prodr. Tetrapathcea australis, Raoul,
p. 27. ¿.27.
Hab. Northern and Middle Islands; not uncommon in dry woods. Banks and Solander, etc, Fl. December.
Nat. name, “ Ku-papa," R. Cunn. (Cultivated in England.)
Leaves 3-4 inches long, linear or ovate, lanceolate, acute or acuminate, narrowed at the base, shinmg above.
Flowers small for the genus (-|—g- inch), pale green. Fruit globular, yeUow-red, 1-1-g inch broad.—The Spanish
missionaries of South America compared the digitate leaves (of one species) and tendi-ils to the bands and flagella
with which our Saviour was scourged; the ten pieces of the perianth to the t e n d i s c i p l e s ; the corona of
filaments to the crown of thorns, the five stamina to the wounds, and the three stigmata to the nails used at the
crucifixion.
N at. O r b . XXX. PORTULACEÆ, .
Gen. I. CLAYTONIA, L.
Sepala 2, ovata, cóncava. Fetala 5, membranácea. Stamina 5, petahs opposita et basi inserta.
Ovarmm 1-loculare; stylo erecto, 3-fido. Capsula 1-locularis, 3-valvis. Semina 3, compressa, funiculis
elongatis placentie basilariinserta; testa atra, Crustacea.
A small, creeping, tender, succulent, pale green, herbaceous plant, with linear opposite leaves, membranous and
cuneate at the base, and scapes of solitary, wliite, very membranous flowers. Sepals two, ovate, concave. Fetals five,
white, membranous, obovate. Stamens five, opposite aud attached to the base of the petals. Ovary ovate, one-celled,
with a straight three-clcft style. Capsule one-celled, three-valved, with three seeds attached to the base of the cell by
long funiculi; testa black, shining. Embryo terete, curved, iu a mealy albumen. -This, with the present exception,
is entirely a North American genus, extending from the Arctic Circle to tbe Southern United States. C. Australasica
differs from its congeners in its one-flowered scape; it is common in Australia and Tasmania. (Named in honour
of John Clayton, an English traveller in North America and a botanist.)
1. Australasica, Hook. fil.; casspitosa, sarmentosa, foliis anguste linearibus, petiolis basi membranaceis
dilatatis connatis, scapis axillaribus 1-floris. Hook. Ic. Flant. t. 293.
H a b . Middle Island. Milford Sound, Jjyall.
Very variable in size, Australian specimens being from 2 inches to a foot high. Stems creeping, 6-8 inches
long. Leaves 1-4 inches long, rather broader and spathulate above, blunt, nerveless. Scapes shorter than or as
long as the leaves, fleshy. Floicers pure white, A-A inch across.
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