92 DIALYPETALOUS EXOGENS 



the 1-3-celled ovary; petals 5, more or less united (often completely so); stamens 5 

 or 3, somewhat united, as well by their tortuous anthers as by the filaments; fruit 

 (Pepo) usually fleshy, sometimes woody or membranous ; seeds large, without albu- 

 men. 



f Petals connected at base, only. 



136. LAGEIVA'RIA, Seringe. 



[Gr. Lagenos, a flagon, or bottle ; from the shape of the fruit.] 



Calyx-tube subturbinate ; segments subulate-lanceolate. Fruit a 



woody Pepo ; seeds obovate, 2-lobed at apex, with the margin tumid. 



Climbing annuals. 



1. L. vuLGXms, Ser. Softly viscid-pubescent; leaves roundish- 

 cordate, acuminate ; fruit clavate-ventricose. 

 COMMON LAGENARIA. Calabash. Bottle Gourd. 



Plant emitting a fetid musky odor; stem 10 to 15 or 20 feet long, slender, branch- 

 ing, climbing by 2- to 4-cleft tendrils. Leaves 4 to 6 or 8 inches long ; petioles 2 to 6 

 inches long. Flowers white, with green nerves and veins, axillary, on long pe- 

 duncles. Fruit 12 to 18 inches long, unequally biventricose, finally nearly hol- 

 low, or partially filled with the loose dry suberose placentae, the rind, or shell, 

 becoming smooth, thin and hard. Seeds with a dry membranous arillus. 



^ Obs. The firm woody shell, of the fruit, affords a convenient 

 kitchen utensil, for which the plant is cultivated, by cottagers and 

 farmers who cannot afford, or do not choose, to purchase more 

 costly ones. WILLDENOW seems to have had a high opinion of its 

 value, in domestic economy. Under the head of Usus, he mentions 

 "Lagenae, Cochlearia, Infundibula, Pilei, innumeraque Utensilia." It 

 might serve all these purposes, in a primitive state of society ; but 

 our people have generally got rather past that. There is occasion- 

 ally cultivated, for the table, a cucurbitaceous fruit of extraordinary 

 length, called " vegetable marrow," which seems to belong to this 

 species, and may, perhaps, be the variety clavata, of SERINGE and DE 

 CANDOLLE. 



137. CITCUMIS, L. 



[Said to be derived from the Celtic, Once, a hollow vessel.] 

 Calyx tubular-campanulate, 5-toothed. Fruit a fleshy Pepo ; seeds 

 white, lance-oblong, acute at base and on the margin. Annuals / 

 flowers axillary, on short peduncles, yellow; tendrils simple. 



1, C. MELO, L. Stem prostrate; leaves cordate-orbicular, some- 

 what angulate; fertile flowers perfect; fruit oval, or subglobose, 

 torulose. 

 MELON CUCUMIS. Musk-Melon. Cantaleupe. 



Hirsute and roughish. Stem 5 to 8 or 10 feet long, sparingly branched. Leaves 

 3 to 4 inches in length, and rather wider than long ; petioles 2 to 3 inches long. 

 Fruit 4 to 6 inches in diameter, often longitudinally ridged (torulose), the flesh, 

 when mature, yellowish, succulent, and of a saccharine spicy flavor. 

 Hob. Gardens, &c. Nat. of Tartary, and the East. Fl. June. Fr. Aug. 



Si. C. SATiVus, L. Stem trailing or clambering; leaves angulate- 

 lobed, the terminal lobe prominent ; fruit oblong, obtusely trigonous, 

 scabrous when young. 

 CULTIVATED CUCUMIS. Common Cucumber. 



