CUCURBITACE^E. 



clustered. Anthers with their connective covered by oblong ovate 

 acute papilla?. Fruit downy, smooth, tapered into a long slender stalk 

 above the insertion of the calyx. — In the wild state this plant pro- 

 duces poisonous fruit. Some sailors died at one of our outports a few 

 years since from drinking beer that had been standing in a flask made 

 of a bottle gourd. Dr. Royle sa} s that he learned from a very respect- 

 able and intelligent native doctor attached to the gaol hospital at Sa- 

 harumpore that he had seen a case of poisoning from eating of the 

 bitter pulp, in which the symptoms were those of cholera. 



CUCUMIS. 



Flowers monoecious. Calyx tubular-campanulate, with subu- 

 late segments scarcely the length of the tube. Petals scarcely 

 adhering to each other. $ . Stamens 5, triadelphous. 

 ?. Stigmas 3, thick, 2-parted. Fruit 3-6- celled: seeds com- 

 pressed, ovate, not tumid at the edge. 



170. C. utilissimus Roxb.fl. ind.m.*12\. — Higher cultivated 

 lands of Bengal. 



An annual. Stems exactly as in the common cucumber, but not 

 quite so extensive. Tendrils simple. Leaves broad-cordate, generally 

 more or less 5-lobed ; lobes rounded, toothletted ; above pretty smooth, 

 below scabrous, the largest generally about 6 inches each way. Floral 

 leaves of the female flowers sessile, and very small. Male flowers 

 axillary, peduncled, crowded, but opening in succession. Female flow- 

 ers axillary, peduncled, solitary ; both sorts yellow, about an inch or an 

 inch and a half in diameter. Fruit fleshy, generally a very perfect oval; 

 when young, downy and clouded with lighter and darker green ; when 

 ripe, perfectly smooth, variegated with deeper and lighter yellow ; from 

 4 to 6 inches long, and from 3 to 4 in diameter. — The powder of the 

 toasted seeds is said to be a powerful diuretic, and serviceable in pro- 

 moting the passage of sand or gravel. Roxb. 



171- C. Colocynthis Linn. sp. ph 1435. DC. prodr. iii. 302. 

 Woodv. t. 1 75. S. and C. iii. t. 1 38. — Ko'aokwBk; Diosc. — 

 Common on the sandy lands of Coromandel, in Egypt, Palestine, 

 Turkey, and all the islands of the Grecian Archipelago. 



Stem prostrate, hispid. Leaves cordate, ovate, many-lobed, white 

 with hairs beneath : the lobes obtuse ; petioles as long as the lamina. 

 Tendrils short. Flowers axillary, solitary stalked ; females, with the 

 tube of the calyx globose, and somewhat hispid, the limb campanulate 

 with narrow segments. Petals small. Fruit globose, smooth, size of 

 an orange, yellow when ripe, with a thin solid rind, and a very bitter 

 flesh. — The fruit contains the intensely bitter resinoid called Colo- 

 cynthin; it is very acrid, and a considerable number of severe cases of 

 poisoning have occurred in the human subject. Nevertheless in com- 

 bination with other substances, the extract is one of the commonest of 

 cathartics. 



172. C. Hardwickii Royk Illustr. 220. t. 47. f. 3. a. — 

 Foot of the Himalaya, and called " Puharee indrayun " or hill 

 colocynth. 



84 



