Melothria
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Authority
Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.
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Family
Cucurbitaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Genus Description - Monoecious, tendriled, herbaceous vines. Leaves simple, entire or lobed. Flowers actinomorphic, unisexual; staminate flowers in axillary racemes; pistillate flowers solitary. Calyx cup-shaped, with 5 minute lobes at apex; corolla short-tubular at base, with spreading, deeply parted lobes. Staminate flowers with a pistillode; stamens 3, the filaments free, the anthers free or connivent. Pistillate flowers usually with 3 staminodes; ovary ovoid to fusiform, with numerous horizontal ovules, the style short, with 3 linear stigmas at apex. Fruit a small ovoid to ellipsoid berry; seeds numerous and minute.
Distribution and Ecology - A neotropical genus of about 10 species.