CUCURBITACEAE 459 
usually dehiscing by a circumsciss operculum at the top. (From the Arabic 
or Egyptian name of one species.) 
Species 6 in the warmer parts of the Old World, 2 introduced in the 
Philippines. a 
ORC > PCR, OT cetegconilen 1. L. cylindrica 
Stamens 2 or 8; fruit sharply 10-angled............................-.-- 2. L. acutangula 
1. L. CYLINDRICA Roem. (L. aegyptiaca Mill.). Patola, Taboboc (wild 
form) (Tag.). 
A scandent, somewhat hairy or nearly glabrous, herbaceous, annual vine 
reaching a length of 10 m or more, the stems 5-angled. Leaves 10 to 20 
cm in diameter, orbicular-ovate to reniform-ovate, acuminate, shallowly 5- 
or 7-angled or lobed, denticulate, scabrous, base deeply cordate. Male 
flowers in axillary, solitary, long-peduncled racemes, crowded at and near 
the apex of the peduncle. Calyx green, the lobes ovate-lanceolate, acumin- 
ate, about 1 cm long. Corolla rotate, yellow, 5 to 7 cm in diameter. Sta- 
mens 5. Female flowers solitary, peduncled. Fruit oblong, cylindric, green, 
12 to 30 cm long, smooth or slightly 10-ribbed. (FI. Filip. pl. 334, L. petola.) 
Commonly cultivated for its edible fruit, fl. all the year; common through- 
out the Philippines, cultivated and wild. Tropics of the world, native 
country uncertain. 
*2. L. ACUTANGULA Roxb. Patola (Tag.). 
A coarse, annual, herbaceous vine. Leaves suborbicular-ovate, 10 to 20 
em long, shallowly 5-lobed, base cordate. Female flowers axillary, pedi- 
celled, solitary. Staminate flowers in axillary racemes, yellow, 2 em long, 
the calyx-lobes lanceolate, acuminate. Stamens 2 or 3. Fruit oblong- 
oblanceolate, 20 to 25 em long, about 5 cm in diameter, green, with 10, prom- 
inent, longitudinal, sharp angles. (FI. Filip. pl. 288.) 
Cultivated for its edible fruit, occasionally subspontaneous, fl. July—Nov.; 
generally cultivated in the Philippines. India and Malaya. 
6. BENINCASA Savi 
A coarse, hairy, climbing vine. Leaves cordate, reniform-orbicular, 
more or less 5- or 7-lobed. Flowers large, yellow, monoecious, solitary. 
Calyx-tube campanulate, the lobes 5, serrate, leaf-like. Petals 5, nearly 
free, obovate. Male flowers with 5 stamens, the anthers free, one 1-celled, 
two 2-celled. Female flowers with an oblong, densely hairy ovary; style 
thick; stigmas 3, flexuose. Fruit large, fleshy, indehiscent, oblong or ellip- 
soid; somewhat hairy, covered with a glaucous waxy bloom. (In honor of 
Count Benincasa.) 
A monotypic genus. 
*1. B. HisPpIDA (Thumb.) Cogn. (B. cerifera Savi). Condol (Tag.). 
A rather coarse, spreading, hairy, annual vine reaching a length of 
several meters, the younger parts rather densely villous. Leaves rounded 
or reniform, deeply cordate, 5- or 7-lobed, 10 to 25 em in diameter. Ped- 
uncles hirsute, the males 5 to 15 cm long, the females much shorter. 
Calyx-tube densely villous. Petals spreading, 3 to 5 cm long. Fruit ellip- 
soid or oval, rarely subglobose, 25-to 40 cm long, with few to many fragile 
hairs, densely covered with a glaucous waxy bloom. (FI. Filip. pl. 328.) 
Occasionally cultivated in our area, fl. Jan._May, and probably in other 
