Cucumis. LIX. CUCURBITACEZ. 271 
cor. as above; abortive fil. 3, distinct, minute ; style very short; stig. 
2, large; fruit roundish, inflated, echinate, 4-seeded—@® A climbing 
herb with branched tendrils. 
E. topata. T. & G. (Sicyos. Michx. Momordica echinata. Mu/l.) 
A smoothish, running vine, in rich river soils, Can. to Penn. and Mo. 
Stem deeply furrowed, with long, 3-parted tendrils placed nearly opposite the 
long petioles. Leaves membranaceous, palmately 5-lobed, cordate at base, 
lobes acuminate, denticulate. Flowers small, white, the barren ones very 
numerous, in axillary racemes often 1f long; fertile ones solitary or several, 
situated at the base of the raceme. Fruit 1—2’ in length, setose-echinate, at 
length dry and membranaceous, with 4 large seeds. Jl.—Sept. 
3. MELOTHRIA. 
Gr. pndov,a melon, Spros, a certain food. 
Flowers 2 $ dor &. Calyx infundibuliform-campanulate, limb 
in 5 subulate segments; petals 5, united into a campanulate corolla. 
3’ Stamens 5, triadelphous. @ Stigmas 3; fruita berry, ovoid, small, 
many-seeded.— Tendrils simple. 
M. PENDULA. 
Lws. roundish-cordate, 5-lobed or angled, slightly hispid; fls. axillary, the 
sterile in small racemes, the fertile solitary, on long peduncles.—N. Y. to Ga. 
and La. A slender vine, climbing over other vegetables. Leaves small (1—2’ 
diam.) Flowers small, yellowish. Style short, surrounded by a cup-shaped 
disk. Fruit small, oval. Jl. 
4. MOMORDICA. 
Lat. mordeo, momordi, to chew ; from the chewed appearance of the seeds. 
Flowers $. oO Calyx 5-cleft; petals 5, united at base; stamens 5, 
triadelphous. @ Calyx and corolla as in the @; style 3-cleft; pepo 
fleshy, bursting elastically ; seeds compressed, with a fleshy arillus. 
M. Batsamina. Common Balsam Apple.—Lws. palmately 5-lobed, dentate, 
naked, shining; ped. solitary, filiform, 1-flowered, with an orbicular-cordate, 
dentate bract above the middle; fr. roundish-ovoid, angular, tuberculate, burst- 
ing elastically on one side.—F'rom E. Indies. Occasionally cultivated for the 
balsamic and vulnerary fruit. Stem slender, climbing by simple tendrils, 
Flowers pale-yellow. Fruit orange-color, as large as a goose-egg. Aug. 
5. CUCUMIS. 
Said to be from the Celtic cuce, a hollow vessel. 
Flowers £ or &. Calyx tubular-campanulate, with subulate seg- 
ments; corolla deeply 5-parted. o Stamens 5,triadelphous. Q Style 
short; stigmas 3, thick, 2-lobed; pepo fleshy, indehiscent ; seeds 
ovate, flat, acute and not margined at the edge.— Creeping; or clumb- 
ing by tendrils. Fs. axillary, solitary, yellow. 
1. C. sativus. Cucumber—St. prostrate, rough; tendrils simple; lvs. sub- 
. cordate, palmately 5-angled or lobed, lobes subentire, acute, terminal one long- 
est; fr. oblong, obtusely prismatic, prickly, on a short peduncle. —@) Native 
of Tartary and India, whence it was first brought to England in 1573. It is 
now universally cultivated for the table, either fresh or pickled. Gathered and 
eaten before maturity. Jn.—Sept—Many varieties. 
2. C. MeLo. Musk Melon.—St. prostrate, rough; tendrils simple ; lwvs._sub- 
cordate, roundish, obtuse, palmately 5-angled, lobes rounded, obtuse, obscurely 
denticulate; fis. 2 § g', the § on short peduncles; fr. oval or subglobose, 
longitudinally torulose——@ Native of Asia, whence it was first brought to Eng- 
‘land in 1570. Generally cultivated for the juicy, yellowish, delicately flavored 
flesh of the mature fruit. Jn. Jl—Varieties numerous. 
