in botany; a genus of the monogynia order, belonging to the triandra class of plants. There is only one species, viz. the pendula, a native of Carolina, Virginia, and also many of the American islands. The plants strike out roots at every joint, which fasten themselves into the ground, by which means their stalks extend to a great distance each way. The flowers are very small, in shape like those of the melon, of a pale sulphur colour. The fruit in the West Indies grows to the size of a pea, is of an oval figure, and changes to black when ripe: there are by the inhabitants sometimes pickled when they are green. In Britain the fruit are much smaller, and are so hidden by the leaves that it is difficult to find them. The plants are too tender to be reared in this country without artificial heat.