GOURD FAMILY 



551 



to 6-celled ovary; stigmas 2 or 3; placentae parietal or projecting from the axis. 

 Staminate flower with 3 stamens, 2 of these with 2-celled anthers, the third one 

 with a 1-celled anther. Fruit gourd-like, or dry and dehiscent. Seeds large, 

 anatropous, without endosperm. — Genera 87, species 760, warm regions of all con- 

 tinents, mostly tropics. 



Bibliog. — Naudin, Ch., Eevue des Cucurbitacees cult, au Museum, en 1859 (Ann. Sci. Nat. 

 Bot. ser, 4, 12:79-164,-1859). Cogniaux, A., Cucurbitacees (DC. Monog. Phan. 3:325-951,— 

 1881); Cucurbitacearum novum genus et species (Proc. Cal. Acad. ser. 2, 3:58-60, — 1890). 

 Watson, S., Megarrhiza Torr. (Proc. Am. Acad. 11:138-139,-1876) ; The genera Echinocystis, 

 Megarrhiza and Echinopepon (Bull. Torr. Club 14:155-158,-1887). Parry, C. C, The fruits 

 of Cucurbita (Bull. Torr. Club 9:30-31, pi. 14,-1882) ; Cucurbita californica Torr. (I.e. 10:50, 



figs. 1, 2, — 1883). Greene, E. L., Western species 

 of Echinocystis (West Am. Sci. 3:34-35,-1887) ; 

 Echinocystis versus Megarrhiza (Pitt. 1:1-4, — 

 1887); Micrampelis (Pitt. 2:127-129,-1890). 

 Eose, J. N., Notes on Cucurbitaceae (Contrib. 

 U. S. Nat. Herb. 5:114-122,-1897). Congdon, 

 J. W., Echinocystis in California (Zoe 5:133-135, 

 — 1901). Zimmermann, A., Die Cucurbitaceen : 

 Anatomie und Physiologie, 1-186, figs. 1-95 

 (1922). Petersen, N. F., Vegetative propagation 

 in the Missouri gourd (Sci. 73 :528, — 1931). 



Flowers large, yellow or yellowish, all solitary; 



fruit smooth, fleshy, 3 to 5-celled 



1. Cucurbita. 

 Flowers small, white or whitish, the staminate in 

 racemes ; fruit more or less spiny or echi- 

 nate, becoming dry. 

 Fruit 2 or 4-celled, 2 to many-seeded; leaves 

 seaberulous or puberulent to gla- 

 brous; mostly cismontane species 



2. Echinocystis. 

 Fruit 1-celled, 1 -seeded ; leaves thickly sprin- 

 kled with disk-like pustules; desert 

 species 3. Brandegea. 



1. CUCURBITA L. 



Ours perennial herbs with large roots. 

 Stems prostrate, vine-like, scabrous. Flow- 

 ers large, yellow, solitary. Filaments dis- 

 tinct. Fruit a smooth globose gourd, 3 to 

 5-celled. — Species 10, tropical America. 

 (Ancient Latin name of the gourd.) 



Leaf -blades triangular-ovate; fruit 3-celled, its pedicel without thickened ridges 



1. C. foetidissima. 

 Leaf -blades palmate; fruit 5-celled, its pedicel with thickened ridges at summit 2. C. palmata. 



1. C. foetidissima H.B.K. Calabazilla. Stems trailing, 5 to 15 feet long; 

 herbage rank-smelling; leaves erect, the blades triangular-ovate, cordate or sub- 

 cordate at base, 4 to 10 inches long; calyx-tube of staminate flower 6 to 8 lines long; 

 corolla 3 to 4 inches long; gourd 3 to 4 inches in diameter. 



Sandy flats or plains, 15 to 1500 feet : San Joaquin Valley to coastal Southern 

 California ; east to Nebraska and Texas ; south into Mexico. June-July. 



Field note. — The trailing stems sometimes develop roots at the nodes under favorable con- 

 ditions of soil and moisture. Such a trailing stem with its series of fleshy cylindric roots is 

 shown in fig. 251, the drawing of which is based on a plant grown in the Economic Garden of the 

 University of California in 1898. The plant is also called Chili Coyote and is used by Spanish- 

 Californians, the root as a detergent, the leaves as an internal medicine. 



Locs. — San Joaquin Valley (east side) : Lathrop, H. A. Walker 938; Merced River bridge, 

 near jet. San Joaquin River, Stanislaus Co., Jepson 15,959 ; Knights Ferry, Sanford 186 ; Oakdale, 

 Jepson 14,122; Friant, Jepson 12,900; Bakersfield, Davy 1826. Coastal S. Cal.: Mentone, B. J. 



Fig. 251. Cucurbita foetidissima H.B.K. 

 As the stems (o) trail over the ground, they 

 sometimes develop roots (&) from the under 

 sides of the nodes. X i/4. 



