154 



POPULAR FLORA. 



38. 



GOURD FAMILY. Order CUCURBITACE^E. 



Succulent or tender herbs, Avith alternate and radiate- 

 veined leaves, and with tendrils. Flowers commonly mo- 

 noecious, in the axils. Fertile flowers Avith the tube of the 

 calyx coherent with the ovary. Petals often united with 

 each other into a monopetalous corolla, and united with or 

 borne on the cup of the calyx. Stamens 

 generally 3, and more or less connected 

 by their anthers or their filaments, or by 

 both ; the anthers curiously contorted. 

 Fruit a pepo (224), berry, or pod. Seeds 

 large and flat ; the whole kernel is an em- 

 brj'o. The most important plants of the 

 family are those cultivated. 



3j5. Ktaniinate flower of a Sqitash. ■with the cntolla and upper piirt of the calyx cm away, to shnw the united stamens. 367. The latter, 

 ejiliu-sed, and tlie njass uf aiitlieis cut across t68. fc-eparale slaiiieii u( a JVicit-n, tiilaij^ed, si. owing the lung and contorted anlher. 363. 

 Kinbryu of Kqnash. S7U. isectiou of same, a little enlarged, seen etigewise. 



Petals united into a large, bell-shaped, 5-lobed, yellow corolla. Stamens with three fila- 

 ments united into a tube, except at tlic bottom: the anthers also *firmly grown 

 together; the turns of their long cells parallel, running straight up and down. 

 Style 1: stigmas 3, each 2-lobed. Fruit large, firm-fleshy. Seeds with a blunt 

 edge, {Cucurbita) *Gour?D, i. e. 



Petals united only at the base or separate. Anthers loosely crooked. [Squash and Pumpkin. 



Ovary and fruit many-seeded. Anthers and filaments 3, separate or separable. 



Petals white, with greenish veins. Peduncles very long. Fruit with a hard or 



woody rind variously shaped, {Lagenaria) ^Boitle-Gourd. 



Petals 3'ellow. Calyx with a bell-shaped cup. Seeds pointed and sharp-edged. 



Fruit narrow, rough-pimpled when young, ( Cucumis sai'ivtis) *Cucumbi>;k. 



Fruit thick, smooth, sweet. Fertile flowers perfect, ( Cucumis Melo) *Muskmelon. 



Petals bufl[" or cream-color. Calyx with hardly any cup. Leaves much cut. 



Fruit large and smooth, sweet. Seeds thick-edged, smooth, ( C'dridhis) *Watep.:melox. 

 Fruit a rough, reddish berry. Seeds wrinkled, (Momordica) ^Balsam-Apple. 



Ovary and fruit one-seeded or 4-seeded. Small-flowered climbers, wild in this country. 

 Corolla of the sterile flowers 6-parted, vv-hite. The long racemes rather prett}' in 

 cultivation. Fruit an oval, weak-prickly, bladder-like pod, bursting 

 at the top, and containing 2 fibrous-netted cells, with 2 large seeds in / , 



each. Leaves sharply 5-lobed, {Eclmiocyslis) Bladder-Cucumber. '< ^''''^''<.^^ 



Corolla of the wheel-shaped sterile flowers 5-lobed, greenish-white. Fruit a 



small, ovate, 1-seeded, prickly-barbed bur. Leaves 5-angled, (Sicyos) Bur-Cucumber. 



39. PASSION-FLOWEPv FAMILY. Order PASSIFLORACEyE. 

 This small family of tendril-bearing vines, with alternate palmately-lobed leaves, is mainly 

 represented by the 



