The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Part 68

Flowers moncious. Petals 5, united below into a bell-shaped or flattish corolla. Anthers cohering in a ma.s.s. Ovary 1-celled, with a single suspended ovule; style slender; stigmas 3. Fruit ovate, dry and indehiscent, filled by the single seed, covered with barbed p.r.i.c.kly bristles which are readily detached.--Climbing annuals, with 3-forked tendrils, and small whitish flowers; the sterile and fertile mostly from the same axils, the former corymbed, the latter in a capitate cl.u.s.ter, long-peduncled. (Greek name for the Cuc.u.mber.)

1. S. angulatus, L. Leaves roundish heart-shaped, 5-angled or lobed, the lobes pointed; plant clammy-hairy.--River-banks, and a weed in damp yards, N. H. and Quebec to Fla., west to Minn., E. Kan., and Tex.

July--Sept.

2. ECHINOCSTIS, Torr. & Gray. WILD BALSAM-APPLE.

Flowers moncious. Petals 6, lanceolate, united at the base into an open spreading corolla. Anthers more or less united. Ovary 2-celled, with 2 erect ovules in each cell; stigma broad. Fruit fleshy, at length dry, clothed with weak p.r.i.c.kles, bursting at the summit, 2-celled, 4-seeded, the inner part fibrous-netted. Seeds large, flat, with a thickish hard and roughened coat.--Tall climbing annual, nearly smooth, with 3-forked tendrils, thin leaves, and very numerous small greenish-white flowers; the sterile in compound racemes often 1 long, the fertile in small cl.u.s.ters or solitary, from the same axils. (Name composed of ??????, _a hedgehog_, and ??st??, _a bladder_, from the p.r.i.c.kly fruit.)

1. E. lobata, Torr. & Gray. Leaves deeply and sharply 5-lobed; fruit oval (2' long); seeds dark-colored.--Rich soil along rivers, W. New Eng.

and Penn. to Minn., E. Kan., and Tex. Also cult. for arbors. July--Oct.

3. CYCLANTHeRA, Schrad.

Flowers moncious. Corolla rotate, deeply 5-parted. Stamens united into a central column, the anther solitary in our species and annular. Ovary (1--3-) usually 2-celled and 4-locellate with 4 erect or ascending ovules. Fruit spiny, obliquely ovoid and gibbous, beaked, bursting irregularly. Seeds flattened.--Slender glabrous climbing annuals or perennials, with very small racemose or panicled white sterile flowers and a solitary fertile one in the same axil. (Name from ??????, _a circle_, and ?????a, _anther_.)

1. C. dissecta, Arn. Annual; leaves digitately 3--7-foliolate, the oblong divisions somewhat lobed or toothed; tendrils simple or bifid; fruit 1' long, on a short peduncle.--Central Kan. to Tex. and Mex.

4. MELTHRIA, L.

Flowers polygamous or moncious; the sterile campanulate, the corolla 5-lobed; the fertile with the calyx-tube constricted above the ovary, then campanulate. Anthers more or less united. Berry small, pulpy, filled with many flat and horizontal seeds.--Tendrils simple. Flowers very small. (Altered from ???????, an ancient name for a sort of white grape.)

1. M. pendula, L. Slender, from a perennial root, climbing; leaves small, roundish and heart-shaped, 5-angled or lobed, roughish; sterile flowers few in small racemes; the fertile solitary, greenish or yellowish; berry oval, green, 4--6" long.--Copses, Va. to Fla., west to S. Ind. and La.

5. CUCuRBITA, L.

Flowers moncious, mostly solitary. Calyx-tube campanulate; corolla campanulate, 5-lobed to the middle. Filaments distinct; anthers linear, united, sigmoid. Ovary oblong, with short thick style, 3--5 2-lobed stigmas, and 3--5 parietal placentas; ovules numerous, horizontal. Fruit smooth, fleshy with a hard rind, indehiscent.--Prostrate scabrous vines, rooting at the joints, with large yellow flowers and large fruit. (The Latin name for the Gourd.)

1. C. ftidissima, HBK. Root very large, fusiform; leaves thick, triangular-cordate; flowers 3--4' long; fruit globose or obovoid, 2--3'

in diameter. (C. perennis, _Gray_.)--Central Neb. to Tex., and westward.

ORDER 46. CACTaCEae. (CACTUS FAMILY.)

_Fleshy and thickened mostly leafless plants, of peculiar aspect, globular or columnar and many-angled, or flattened and jointed, usually with p.r.i.c.kles. Flowers solitary, sessile; the sepals and petals numerous, imbricated_ in several rows, the bases adherent to the 1-celled ovary.--Stamens numerous, with long and slender filaments, inserted on the inside of the tube or cup formed by the union of the sepals and petals. Style 1; stigmas numerous. Fruit a 1-celled berry, with numerous campylotropous seeds on several parietal placentae.

1. Mamillaria. Globose or oval plants, covered with spine-bearing tubercles. Flowers from between the tubercles. Ovary naked; berry succulent.

2. Opuntia. Branching or jointed plants; the joints flattened or cylindrical.

1. MAMILLaRIA. Haw.

Flowers about as long as wide, the tube campanulate or funnel-shaped.

Ovary often hidden between the bases of the tubercles, naked, the succulent berry exserted. Seeds yellowish-brown to black, crustaceous.--Globose or oval plants, covered with spine-bearing cylindrical, oval, or conical tubercles, the flowers from distinct woolly or bristly areoles at their base. (Name from _mamilla_, a nipple, referring to the tubercles.)

1. M. vivipara, Haw. Simple or cespitose, 1--5' high, the almost terete tubercles bearing bundles of 5--8 reddish-brown spines (10" long or less), surrounded by 15--20 grayish ones in a single series, all straight and very rigid; flowers purple, with lance-subulate petals and fringed sepals; berry oval, green; seeds pitted, light brown.--Plains of Dak. to Kan., and westward.

2. M. Missouriensis, Sweet. Smaller, globose, with fewer (10--20) weaker ash-colored spines; flowers yellow, 1--2' broad; berry subglobose, scarlet; seeds few, black, pitted. (M. Nuttallii, _Engelm._)--S. Dak. to central Kan., Tex., and westward.

2. OPuNTIA, Tourn. p.r.i.c.kLY PEAR. INDIAN FIG.

Sepals and petals not united into a prolonged tube, spreading, regular, the inner roundish. Berry often p.r.i.c.kly. Seeds flat and margined, covered with a white bony arillus. Embryo coiled around alb.u.men; cotyledons large, foliaceous in germination.--Stem composed of joints (flattened in ours), bearing very small awl-shaped and usually deciduous leaves arranged in a spiral order, with cl.u.s.ters of barbed bristles and often spines also in their axils. Flowers in our species yellow, opening in suns.h.i.+ne for more than one day. (A name of Theophrastus, originally belonging to some different plant.)

[*] _Spines small or none; fruit pulpy._

1. O. vulgaris, Mill. Prostrate or spreading, _light green_; joints broadly obovate (2--4' long); _leaves minute_ (2--2" long), ovate-subulate, _generally appressed_, bristles short, greenish yellow, rarely with a few small spines; flowers pale yellow (_about 2' broad), with about 8 petals_; fruit 1' long.--Sandy fields and dry rocks, Nantucket to S. C., near the coast; Falls of the Potomac.

2. O. Rafinesquii, Engelm. Prostrate, _deep green_; joints broadly obovate or orbicular (3--5' long); _leaves_ (3--4" long), _spreading_; bristles bright red-brown, with a few small spines and a single strong one (9--12" long) or none; flowers yellow (_2--3' broad), sometimes with a reddish centre; petals 10--12_; fruit 1' long, with an attenuated base.--Sterile soil, Nantucket and southward along the coast to Fla., and in the Mississippi valley, from Mich. to Minn., and south to Ky. and Ark.

[*][*] _Very spiny, fruit dry and p.r.i.c.kly._

3. O. Missouriensis, DC. Prostrate, _joints_ light green, _broadly obovate, flat and tuberculate_ (2--6' long), leaves small (1--2"

long); _their axils armed with a tuft of straw-colored bristles and 5--10 slender radiating spines_ (1--2' long); flowers light yellow (2--3' broad), fruit with spines of variable length.--Wisc. to Mo., westward across the plains, very variable.

4. O. fragilis, Haw. Subdec.u.mbent; _joints small_ (1--2' long or less), _ovate, compressed or tumid, or even terete_; leaves hardly 1" long, red; _bristles few, larger spines 1--4, cruciate, with 4--6 smaller white radiating ones below_; flowers yellow.--Minn. to Iowa and Kan., and westward.

ORDER 47. FICOiDEae.

A miscellaneous group, _chiefly of fleshy or succulent plants, with mostly opposite leaves and no stipules_. Differing from Caryophyllaceae and Portulacaceae by having the ovary and capsule 2--several-celled, and the stamens and petals sometimes numerous, as in Cactaceae (but the latter wanting in most of the genera), seeds, as in all these orders, with the slender embryo curved about mealy alb.u.men. Our genera are apetalous and with the calyx free from the ovary.

1. Sesuvium. Calyx-lobes 5, petaloid. Stamens 5--60. Capsule circ.u.mscissile. Succulent.

2. Mollugo. Sepals 5. Stamens 3 or 5. Capsule 3-valved. Not succulent.

1. SESuVIUM, L. SEA PURSLANE.

Calyx 5-parted, purplish inside, persistent, free. Petals none. Stamens 5--60, inserted on the calyx. Styles 3--5, separate. Pod 3--5-celled, many-seeded, circ.u.mscissile, the upper part falling off as a lid.--Usually prostrate maritime herbs, with succulent stems, opposite leaves, and axillary or terminal flowers. (An unexplained name.)

1. S. pentandrum, Ell. Annual, proc.u.mbent or sometimes erect; leaves oblong- to obovate-spatulate, obtuse; flowers sessile, stamens 5. (S.

Portulacastrum, _Gray_, Manual, not _L._)--Sea coast, N. J. to Fla.

2. MOLLuGO, L. INDIAN-CHICKWEED.

Sepals 5, white inside. Stamens hypogynous, 5 and alternate with the sepals, or 3 and alternate with the 3 cells of the ovary. Stigmas 3.

Capsule 3-celled, 3-valved, loculicidal, the part.i.tions breaking away from the many-seeded axis.--Low homely annuals, much branched, the stipules obsolete. (An old Latin name for some soft plant.)

M. VERTICILLaTA, L. (CARPET-WEED.) Prostrate, forming patches; leaves spatulate, cl.u.s.tered in whorls at the joints, where the 1-flowered pedicels form a sort of sessile umbel, stamens usually 3.--Sandy river-banks, and cultivated grounds. June--Sept. (An immigrant from farther south.)

ORDER 48. UMBELLiFERae. (PARSLEY FAMILY.)