dry and membranous arillus; the testa coriaceous : albumen none.
Embryo str a ig h t: cotyledons foliaceous, palmately veined.—Herbs,
With succulent stems, climbing by means o f tendrils (which are
transformed stipules, according to St. Hilaire). Leaves alternate,
palmately veined. Flowers axillary, monoecious or dioecious, or
rarely perfect.
1. BRYONIA. Linn. ; Gtertn.fr. t. 88 ; Seringe, in DC. prodr. 3. p. 344.
Flowers monoecious or dioecious. Calyx with 5 short teeth. Petals 5,
distinct or united at the base. S t er il e F l . Stamens 5, triadelphous:
anthers flexuous. F e r t il e F l . Style mostly 3 -cleft. Fruit an ovate or
globose smooth berry, generally few-seeded.
§ Styles united to the summit, surrounded at the base by a conspicuous cupshaped
d isk : stigmas dilated: ovules solitary in each cell, ascending: berry
oval, 3 -seeded: seeds (large) compressed, smooth, indistinctly margined, 3-
toothed at the base.—'T rianosperma.
cordatf'VfnW™**'’ scabf°us-pubescent? tendrils simple or 2-cleft; leaves
w ! 1?’ 3-1 » ’or sometimes almost 3-parted, denticulate; the middle lobe
’ ®cu™mate"cusP1date; the lateral mostly angled or 2- lobed • sterile
and ferule flowers usually from the same axilsf 3-5 together, on ve^v short
simple pedicels ; berries crimson, oval or elliptical J
fr « /T n f-°UndS r V “ “ 8’ Georgia, Dr. Boykin! Alabama, Mr. Buck-
ley. Louisiana, Dr. Carpenter! Dr. Hale! June-July— U Root fusiform
of 15 orTo f e e f 61I cbmblaf over busbej ; sometimes amending to the height
, .f or 20 feet. Leaves 3-4 inches m diameter. Flowers small erepnisli
white. Fruit 6-8 lines in length, longer than the p e d ic e l,S h i frimson'
on turning to dirty yellow. Seeds broadly oval, 4-5 lines long, abruntlv
pointed at the hilum, and with 2 conspicuous lateral teeth.—B. American 1
Lam. is apparently allied to this. Americana,
2. MELOTHRIA. Linn.; Juss. gen.p. 395.
Flowers polygamous or monoecious. Calyx in the perfect and fertile flowers
constricted into a short filiform tube above the ovary, then campanulate
m the sterile flowers infundibuliform-campanulate; the segments subulate,’
o ten minute. Petals 5, united into a campanulate corolla; the perfect flowers
sometimes apetalous. S t er il e F l . Stamens 5, triadelphous: anthers
(of the three parcels) connate, at length separate, contorted. A cup-shaped
disk or rudiment in the bottom of the calyx. F er til e F l . Style surrounded
at the base by a cup-shaped or lobed disk: stigmas 3, dilated. Sterile filaW
, with parietal placenta that sometimes send out false dissepiments towards
the axis, as the cucumber and gourd.” Am. prodr. Ind. Or. 1. p. 340.—The exami
nation of a transverse section of a gourd or melon manifestly shows this to be the
proper view of its carpological structure.
ments 3 (rather 5, triadelphous), sometimes wanting. P erfec t F l . like
the pistillate, but with fertile stamens. Fruit an oval small many-seeded
berry. Seeds (small) obovate, compressed, furfuraceous with minute matted
hairs.—Tendrils simple.
1. M. pendula (Linn.): stems slender, climbing : leaves (small) roundish-
cordate, repand-toothed, 5-angled or 5-lobed ; the middle lobe longest, mu-
cronate; sterile flowers in small racemes; the fertile solitary, on filiform
pedicels at length as long as the leaves; teeth of the calyx minute ; style
short, surrounded by a cup-shaped conspicuous disk; fruit small, blackish
when ripe— Linn. ! spec, 1. p. 35. (pi. Gronov.); Walt. Car. p. 66 ; Michx.!
fl. 2. p. 217; E ll.s k . 2. p. 662: Seringe! in DC. prodr. 3. p. 313.
M. nigra R a f ! ann. nat. (1820).
Shady places, Virginia! to Georgia! Alabama! and Louisiana! June-
Aug.—Leaves scabrous, 1-2 inches in diameter. Flowers small, yellowish.
2. M. grandifolia: leaves (thin and membranous) somewhat cordate at
the base, 3-lobed, denticulate; the middle lobe much largest, acuminate-cuspidate
; both sterile and fertile flowers on simple very short pedicels, several
together in the axils of the leaves ; teeth of the calyx linear-subulate, more
than half the length of the petals; style rather long, surrounded at the base
with a 3-lobed disk ; fruit oblong, orange-color, as long as the pedicels.
Low banks of the Mississippi, Dr. Leavenworth!—Stem apparently climbing.
Leaves 4-6 inches in diameter, somewhat scabrous, on hairy petioles;
the lateral lobes often angled near the base or somewhat lobed. Flowers
larger than in M. pendula; the sterile ones largest.—We have not seen the
seeds or full-grown fruit. The fertile flowers have rudimentary stamens.
3. SICYOS. Linn.; Juss. gen. p . 394; Gtertn.fr. t. 88.
Flowers monoecious. S t er il e F l . Calyx flatfish; the teeth 5, subulate
or minute. Petals 5, ovate, combined below into a rotate corolla.
Stamens 5, all cohering in a tube, or at length separating into 3 parcels:
anthers contorted. F e r t il e F l . Calyx constricted above the ovary, campanulate.
Petals united at the base into campanulate corolla. Disk obsolete
or none. Ovary 1-celled, with a solitary suspended ovule: style mostly
slender: stigmas 3, rather thick, revolute. Fruit ovate, membranaceous,
usually hispid or echinate with spiny bristles. Seed large, compressed, smooth
and even; the testa almost crustaceous.—Sterile and fertile flowers usually in
the same axils; the former in racemes or corymbs, the latter in pedunculate
clusters: petals whitish, with green veins. Tendrils compound. Root
annual.
1. S. angulatus (Linn.): stem, petioles, and peduncles somewhat vis-
cidly pubescent with long hairs; leaves roundish-cordate, 5-angled or 5-lobed,
with 5 primary veins; the lobes denticulate, acuminate, especially the
middle one; tendrils 3-5-cleft; sterile flowers in a corymbose (sometimes
branched) crowded raceme, on a very long peduncle ; fertile flowers on a
short peduncle: style slender; fruit viscidly pubescent and echinate with
retrorseiy scabrous prickly bristles.—Linn.! spec. 2. p. 1013; Michx.! fl.
2. p. 217 ; Pursh, fl. 2. p. 44 ; Ell. sk. 2. p. 663 ; Seringe! in DC. prodr.
3 . p. 309. S. vitifolia, Willd. spec. 4. p. 626 ? S. acutus, R a f.fl. Ludtrv.
Bryonoides flore & fructu minore, Dill. Elth. t. 51, ƒ . 59.