64 



19. CUCURBITACE^. 



at 



ap- 



CUCUMIS 1 

 ClTRULLITS 2 



2. CE. iongiflora, Jacq. Differs principally from the 

 preceding in its long calyx-tube (usually 10-12 cm.) 2-3 

 times longer than the petals. Not nearly so common here 

 as CE. odorata. 



Temperate South America. Some_ botanists propose to 

 unite both these species with O'J. biennis, L., a North 

 American plant, distinguished by its capsule, not club- 

 shaped, but tapering toward.s the summit. 



Family 19— CUCURBITACE/E. 



Flowers unisexual ; calyx and corolla 5-lobed ; stamens 

 3, filaments short and thick, 2 of them bearing 2-celled 

 anthers, and the 3rd a 1-celled anther, the cells linear and 

 curved ; style short, with 3 thick, notched stigmas : fruit 

 fleshy, with several flat seeds. Weak trailing herbs, often 

 climbing by means of axillary tendrils ; leaves simple, alter- 

 nate, palmately nerved, stalked. 



Tendrils simple ; anthers appendagcd 



summit; seeds sharp-edged 



Tendrils 2-branched ; anthers without 



pendages; seeds blunt-edged 



1. CucuMis, L. 



1. Cucumis myriocarpus, 



Annual, rough with stiff hairs and 

 seated on tubercles; stems pros- 

 trate, angular; leaves oval- 

 cordate in outline, glabrous 

 above, hairy below, deeply 

 divided into 5 oboval, toothed 

 lobes, with broad sinuses between, 

 the middle one largest and often 

 3-l(Jbod ; flowers monrecious, small, 

 axillary, on slender peduncles, 

 males 2-4, females solitary ; calyx 

 with 5 short teeth; corolla yel- 

 low, striped with green; fila- 

 ments free, the connective pro- 

 duced above the anthers in a sort 

 of crest; fruit ovoid to globular, 

 20-25 mm. (about 1 in.) diameter, 

 at first marked lengthwise with 

 dark-green stripes, afterwards 

 yellow, beset with long, weak 

 bristles ; pulp very bitter. 



Roadsides and cultivated land. 

 — Nov. -Mar. — South Africa. 



Naudin. Wild Melon. 

 small white bristles 



Cucumis myriocarpus. 



Schrad. 

 _ Schrad. Annual ; stems 



prostrate, angular, succulent, woolly to rough-hairy; leaves 

 variable, oval-cordato or triangular in outline, rather 



2. CiTEri.LUS, 

 1. Citrulius vulgraris, 



