94 DIALYPETALOUS EXOGENS 



on axillary common peduncles 1 or 2 to 4 or 5 inches in length, the staminate ones 

 corymbose-capitate, with the common peduncle longer ; the pistillate ones in dense 

 capitate clusters. Fruit compressed, ovate, in stellately-globose heads, which are 

 about an inch in diameter, and armed with slender tawny spines. 

 Hob. Banks of Schuylkill : rare. Fl. July. Fr. Sept. 



Obs. This Cucumber-like Vine has found its way into some gar- 

 dens ; where it is something of a nuisance, and rather difficult to 

 get rid of. The Balsam Apple (Momordica Balsdmina, L.J, which 

 belongs to this section, is sometimes seen in gardens ; but is scarcely 

 entitled to a place in our Flora even among cultivated plants. 



f f Petals united with each other, and with the calyx. 

 14O. CUCIIR'BITA, L. 



[The Latinized Celtic name for a Gourd, or hollow vessel.] 

 Calyx-tube obovoid-clavate ; limb circumscissed and deciduous. Co- 

 rolla campanulate. Fruit fleshy, or finally subligneous. Seeds 

 white, obovate, convexly compressed, the margin scarcely tumid. 

 Trailing annuals : leaves subcordate ; tendrils branched ; flowers yel- 

 low, axillary, subsolitary. 



* Fruit always fleshy (PUMPKINS), 



1. C. Pispo, L. Leaves obtusely cordate, somewhat 5-lobed; flowers 

 large ; fruit of various forms, smooth. 



Pumpkin. 



Rough and hispid. Stem 10 to 20 feet long, sparingly branched. Leaves 9 to 15 

 inches long, on stout fistular petioles 4 to 6 or 8 inches in length. Staminate flow- 

 ers often solitary, on a long peduncle. Fruit varying from depressed-globose to 

 oval, oblong, or clavate and curved, of various sizes and colors,' the rind thick 

 and fleshy, the cavity loosely filled with a stringy pulp. 

 Hob. Fields, and gardens. Nat. of the East. Fl. July. Fr. Octo. 



Obs. The fruit of this is valuable for stock, ahd some of the 

 varieties excellent for the table. It is liable to be injuriously hy 

 bridized, when growing in the immediate vicinity of Squa'shes. I 

 have had a crop of Pumpkins totally spoiled, by thoughtlessly 

 planting Squashes among them; the fruit becoming hard, warty 

 and woody, unfit for the table, and unsafe to give to cattle. 



* * Fruit finally suUigneous (SQUASHES). 



2. C. M^LOPEPO, L. Leaves somewhat 5-angled; fruit orbicular 

 and much depressed (clypeate), smoothish, the margin often tumid. 

 Cymling. Round, or Patty-pan Squash. 



Hirsute. Stem 8 to 12 or 15 feet long, somewhat branching; tendrils sometimes 

 transformed or developed into imperfect leaves. Leaves 6 or 8 inches in length ; 

 petioles as long as the leaves. Fruit 3 to 6 or 8 inches in diameter, of various colors, 

 sometimes warty. 

 Hob. Gardens, &c. Nat. country uncertain. Fl. July. Fr. Octo. 



Obs. Cultivated for the table. The name, "Cymling," is South- 

 ern, and may, perhaps, be a corruption of Cymbaline, from a re- 

 semblance in the/orwt of the fruit to that of a Cymbal. 



3. C. VERRucbsA, L. Leaves 5-lobed, the middle lobe narrowed at 

 base; fruit oblong, or clavate and curved, warty. 



