r.xii. cucuhditaobjE. 535 



dehiscent. Seeds numerous, oblong, compressed, usually smooth. — 

 DiSTRin. Tropical Asia and Africa, a few in Australia and America ; 

 species 26. 



Fruit smooth, glabrous or pubescent. 



rercnniiil ; leaves deeplj cut into 5-7 obtuse lobes, 



scabrid 1. C. irif/omis. 



Annual ; leaves usually 5-augled, softly hairy 2. C. Mclo. 



Fruit ediiiuite y. C. pruphetarum. 



1. Cucumis trigonus, Ro.vh. I/orf. Beng. (1814) p. 70. Perennial, 

 scabrid, nionceeious ; stems 3-5 ft. long, slender, angled, rough with shoi-t 

 rigid hairs. Tendrils simple. Leaves suborbicular in outline, 1-2 in. 

 long and broad (sometimes larger), scabrid on both surfaces, hispid on 

 the nerves beneath, cordate at the base, deeply palmately 5-7-lobed, the 

 lobes ovate-oblong or obovate, often narrowed at the base, rounded at 

 the apex, lobulate or dentate ; petioles slender, striate, scabrid, often 

 hispid, ^-2 in. long. Male flowers: Peduncles slender, 4-| in. long, 

 in small clusters (rarely solitary). Calyx narrowly campanulate, hairy ; 

 tube J-^ in. long ; teeth sliort, subulate. Corolla yellow, i-i in. long, 

 more or less pubescent ; segments elliptic, acute. Appendage of the 

 connective of the anthers a little shorter than the anther. Female 

 TLOWERS : Peduncles slender, |-1 in. long in fruit. Ovary hair v. 

 Fruit ellipsoid or subglobose, 1| by 1| in., longitudinally variegated with 

 10 green stripes, pale yellow when ripe, with bitter pulp. Seeds white, 

 ellipsoid, not margined. Fl. B. I. v. 2, p. 619 ; Dalz. & Gibs. p. 103 ; 

 Wiojht, icon. t. 497 ; Trim. Fl. Ceyl. v. 2, p. 250 ; Woodr. in Journ. 

 Bomb. Nat. v. 11 (1898) p. G40 ; AVatt, Diet. Econ. Prod. v. 2, p. 635.— 

 Flowers : June. Vehn. Kdrlt. 



Deccan: very common, Dahell cf- Gibson; jungles about Poona, Woodrowl; 

 Bowdhan near Poona, Kanitkar\\ Eajwadi, Kanitkar\ Sind : balzell, 37.'; 

 Landhi near Karachi, Cooke\; Bhubak, Cooke\\ Hyderabad, Cookel — Distrib. 

 Throughout India ; Ceylon, Malaya, N. Australia, Afghanistan, Persia. 



2. Cucumis Melo, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753) p. 1011, var. agrestis, 

 Naud. in Ann. Svi. Nat. ser. 4, v. 11 (1859) p. 73, & v. 12, p. 110. 

 Annual ; stems creeping, branched, obtusely angular, with stiff (some- 

 times hooked) hairs on the ridges. Tendrils simple. Leaves 2-4 in. 

 long and about as broad as long, acute at the apex, cordate at the base, 

 more or less hairy on both sides, denticulate, usually 5-angled ; petioles 

 1-1^ in. long, grooved and roughly hairy. Male flow^ers in axillary 

 fascicles of about 2 or 3 ; p(>duncles l-k in. long, very slender, densely 

 hairy. Calyx densely hairy ; tube narrowly campanulate, ^-\ in. long ; 

 teeth y\j in. long, subulate, densely hairy. Corolla j-| in. long, the 

 segments hairy outside, often terminated by a hairy apiculation. 

 Female flowers : Calyx-tube constricted above the ovary. Ovarv 

 ellipsoid, clothed with long bristly deciduous hairs. Fruit ellipsoid or 

 turbinate, about 1 h hi. long, smooth or with a few small bristles. Seeds 

 numerous, narrowly ovoid, compressed, smooth. Cogniaux, in DC. 

 Monogr. Phan. v. 3 (1881) p. 483. Cucumis Melo, var. imhesceiis, Kurz, 

 in Journ. As. Soc. Beng. v. 46, part 2 (1877) p. 103. Cucumis puhescens 

 (sp.), Willd. Sp. PI. v. 4 (1805) p. 614 ; Wight, Icon. t. 496; Dak. & 

 Gibs. p. 103 ; Fl. B. I. v. 2, p. 619 (under C. irigonus); Trim. Fl. Ceyl. 

 V. 2, p. 250. Cucumis madraspatanus, Eoxb. in Wall. Cat. 6734 (not 



