THE CUCUMBER FAMILY, 143 



Cucurbitaceae. 



The Cucumber Family. 



This is a very large order comprising some 470 

 species of 68 genera grouped into 8 tribes. South 

 Africa has 13 genera, of which I will select two. 

 All the species are herbs, either prostrate or climb- 

 ing by tendrils. The flowers are always unisexual, 

 sometimes monoecious, as of melons and cucumbers, 

 and sometimes dioecious, as some species of the berry- 

 fruited Zelme'ria. 



Cu'cumis (Melon) (Fig. 61). — The male flower has 

 five coherent, superior sepals ; a corolla of five coherent 

 petals ; five stamens (HI.), the filaments being more or 

 less united, and the anthers in two coherent pairs, the 

 fifth being free and alone (IV.). The anthers are 

 usually curved like an S, and are called sinnatc (HI.). 



In the female flower there are, of course, no stamens, 

 but the ovary of the pistil is peculiar. The structure 

 can be best seen in a thin slice of cucumber held up to 

 the light. What one observes is the seeds facing 

 inwards, and suspended on an anchor-shaped support 

 (VII.). To account for this, we must first consider the 

 three carpels as having their margins united edge to 

 edge, making a single chamber; then, suppose the 

 united pairs of edges to grow inwards, till they touch, 

 but without cohering, in the middle. Now let them 



