GOURD FAMILY CUCURBITACEAE | 
ONE-SEEDED BUR CUCUMBER 
Sicyos angulatus L. 
The Gourd family consists mostly of annual climbing herbs 
with branched tendrils, and is largely tropical or subtropical. 
Many of its members are cultivated here, among which are 
Squash, Summer Squash, 
a Pumpkin, Cucumber, 
‘es : Watermelon, Muskmelon, 
‘ ee Citron and Gourd. The 
three members native in 
Illinois are given here. 
This vine is found in 
moist places, especially 
along river banks, from 
Quebec to Ontario and 
South Dakota, south to 
Florida and Texas. Some- 
times it is called Nimble 
Kate, probably because of 
its agility in climbing over 
other plants. 
The stem is angled and 
somewhat sticky with glandular hairs. It climbs to a height of 
15-25 feet, or is sometimes low trailing. The leaves, sometimes as 
much as Io inches across, are rather thin and rough above and 
below. 
The blooming season is April to September. The flowers are 
imperfect and the plants monoecious. The staminate flowers are 
produced in a loose raceme on a long peduncle in the axil of a 
leaf. The calyx is cup shaped and 5-toothed. The white or green- 
ish white corolla is wheel shaped and 5-parted nearly to the base. 
The 3 stamens have their filaments united into a short tube and 
the anthers are also somewhat united. 
The pistillate flowers are borne, several together, in a headlike 
cluster at the end of a peduncle, often in the same axil as the 
staminate cluster. The flower parts are above the ovary. The style 
is short and slender, and there are usually 3 stigmas. The 1-seeded 
fruit is dry, yellowish, somewhat hairy and covered with slender 
rough spines which are easily detached. 
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