934 Cucurbitaceae. 
530. (1.) Lagenaria Seringe. 
Monoecious or dioecious. Flowers all solitary; male: Long- 
petioled. Calyx-tube bell- or funnel-shaped; lobes 5, spreading. 
Petals 5, free, obovate or obcordate, mucronate. Filaments 3, free, 
inserted within the calyx-tube; anthers included, cohering; one 
1-celled, two 2-celled; cells flexuous, connective not produced. 
Rudiment of ovary 0. Female fl.: Shortly peduncled. Staminodes 0. 
Ovary oblong ovoid or cylindric; style short, stout; stigmas 3. 
2-lobed; ovules many on 3 placentas. Fruit woody, indehiscent; 
flesh corky. Seeds many, compressed, margined, furrowed and rid- 
ged longitudinally: testa smooth. — A pubescent, musky-scented, 
annual, climbing herb. Leaves broad; petiole 2-glandular at the 
apex. Tendrils 2-fid. Flowers large, white. 
The genus is dispersed over the tropical and subtropical regions of 
both the New and the Old World. 
1298. Lagenaria vulgaris Seringe in Mém. Soc. phys. Genéve III 
(1825), p.25 tab. 2. — Boiss. Flor. Or. Il, p. 763. — Aschers.- 
Schweinf. Il. Flor. d’Eg., p.77 no. 443. — Sickenberg. Contrib. Flor. 
d’Eg., p. 244. — DC. Prodrom. II, p. 299. — Hook. in Flor. Trop. 
Afr. II, p. 529. — Cogniaux in DC. Monogr. Phanerog. II, p. 417. 
— Wight Ic. Plant. Or. tab. 105. — Puhbescent, scabrous, tomentose, 
villous or almost glabrous. Stem stout, climbing. Leaves 2—10 em 
broad, orbicular-cordate, undivided angular or more or less 3 to 
7-lobed, toothed. Flowers 5—10 cm diameter, female smaller. Fruit 
extremely variable in size and shape. — Flow. February to March. 
M.-ma.. M. p.. N..d.N.f. N..v. N. v. mer..0.. D. L. Do acseae 
Cultivated and often subspontaneous. 
Local name: qara tawil; qara’ dabbe; qara’-ed-dertif; qara’- 
draf (Schweinfurth). 
Cultivated through the Tropics. 
531. (2.) Luffa Cay. 
Monoecious or dioecious. Male flower: Racemose. Calyx-tube 
bellor top-shaped; lobes 5, spreading. Petals 5, free, spreading, 
obovate or obcordate. Filaments 3 or 5, free or connate, inserted 
on the mouth of the calyx; anthers exserted, free, one 1-celled, 
two 2-celled; cells flexuous, bordering the broad connective. Rudi- 
ment of ovary glandlike. Female flower: Solitary. Staminodes 
various. Ovary elongate, angled or grooved; style columnar; stigma 
3-lobed; ovules many on 3 parietal placentas. Fruit oblong or 
cylindric, even or ribbid, dry and fibrous inside, 3-celled, opening 
