622 BOTANY OF CROP PLANTS 



cucumbers, the stems, leaves, flowering heads, and seeds of 

 dill, and also, sometimes, a spice made from allspice, crushed 

 black pepper, coriander seed, and bay leaves. Some 

 vinegar is added in the later stages of the pickling process. 



CUCUMIS ANGURIA (Gherkin) 



Description. — This is an annual, creeping, branching 

 plant. The stems are slender, rough-hairy, and bear simple 

 tendrils. The leaves are deeply sinuate-lobed. Staminate 

 flowers are small, numerous, and on short peduncles, while 

 pistillate flowers are on long stalks. The fruit is about ij^^ 

 inches long, oval, prickly, and green with whitish streaks. 

 The flesh is thin, and the seeds form a proportionately large 

 percentage of the fruit. 



The species is native of the West India Islands. 



The genuine gherkins of commerce are the fruit of C. 

 anguria. Small cucumbers (C. s ativus) a,re often substituted 

 for them, however. 



CITRULLUS (Watermelon, Citron, Colocynth) 



Description. — Citrullus species are coarse, trailing herbs 

 with branched tendrils. The leaves are rotund-cordate, and 

 three- to five-lobed. The flowers are monoecious, and always 

 solitary. In the staminate flowers, the calyx has a broad 

 campanulate tube and a five-lobed limb, and the corolla is 

 five-parted to below the middle; there are three stamens with 

 subsessile anthers, one of which is one-loculed, the other 

 two, two-loculed. In the pistillate flowers, the calyx and 

 corolla are as described above. The ovary is ovoid with 

 three fleshy placentae; the style is short, with three large 

 stigmas, and ovules are numerous. The fruit varies widely 

 in form and size, color and thickness of skin, flavor, etc. 



