RED, YELLOW, AND WHITE GOURDS 



CUCURBITA 



PEPO 



Vegetable Marrow 



C. maxima, Duchetne ; Fl. Br. Ind., ii., 622 ; Benthara, Rev. on D.E.P., 

 Cenni storici of Targioni-Tozzotti, in Journ. Roy. Hort. Soc., 1855, 146 ; ** 038-40. 

 IK 1 ., nri.f. Cull. Want*, 1884, 249-57; Asa Gray, Scient. Papers, 1889, i., SjCil * 



I N. N. Banorjei, Agri. Cuttack, 1893, 116-7; Cooke, FL Pres. urdT 

 Bomb., 1WW, i., 547 ; Duthie, FL Upper Gang. Plain, i., 377. Squash-gourd, 

 fellow-gourd, Red-gourd, Spanish-gourd, Turban-gourd, etc. ; lalbhopali, 

 knla Itlntfuila, baitalu, baitaka-kharu, kadu, tookm kudu, gaduwa, pushini, 

 giinnnadi, erra-gumtnadi, mattanga, kumbala, shwe-pay-on, etc. A plant with 

 live jt.'ilnuite leaves, having the lobes rounded, the sinus narrow, and the 

 petiole nnirlyas long as the blade, but not prickly ; fruiting peduncle round, 

 nooth : corolla lobes curved outwards; calyx segments lanceolate-linear. 



Duthie says that the evidence obtained from historic research favours an Habitat 

 iatic origin for this plant, C. Sprenger (Butt. Toac. Ortic., 1893, 333) says a 

 Id form, <. iiHijriimt ({//rr/-i), has been found in the Himalaya which is 

 ipposed to be the parent of all the large-fruited gourds in cultivation. [Cf. Kew 

 ull. (add. sor.), 1900, iv., 120.] Asa Gray is disposed to accept it as American, 

 in support of that opinion mentions that its name "Squash" is American, 

 t produces the largest known cucurbitacoous fruit ; examples weighing as much 

 H _' 1 1 1 11). have been recorded. The principal varieties have already been denoted 



the citation above of European names. It is cultivated in most warm and Cultivation. 

 imporate parts of the globe. In Upper India the seed is sown in the rains 

 the vegetable eaten in the cold season ; but in Bengal it is often sown in 

 itober, and Banerjei says that in Cuttack it is sown in February-March. Both 



seeds and the OIL expressed from them are used in medicine. The fruit OIL 

 en young is used as a VEGETABLE, and when mature will keep for months if Vegetable, 

 g up in an airy place. It is, like most other forms of Cneni-bitn, extremely 

 uable as a vegetable during camping expeditions, since it will keep for months 

 d withstand severe handling. It is largely used by the Natives in curry. In 

 irman East Africa the young leaves are eaten like spinach. [Cf. Berichte uber 

 Lond-und Forat., 1903, i., 419.] In Assam the young leaves of c. Pepo are 

 ly eaten as a pot-herb. 



C. moschata, Duchesne ; Duthie and Fuller, Field and Garden 

 rops, pt. ii., 58-9, pi. Iviii-lxi. The Musk- melon, Melon Pumpkin, 

 iphal, saphari khumra, mithd-kaddu, kali-dudhi, etc. 



Leaves as in the preceding, but very often marbled with whitish blotches ; 

 Dtiole hairy but not prickly ; fruiting peduncles angular and furrowed ; calyx 

 Bgments of the female flower large foliaceous. The Musk-melon is described 

 i the Ain-i-Akbari (Blochmann, transl., 64-5) as distinct from the melon, so 

 lat it appears to have been known in India from fairly ancient times. Baber 

 (Memoirs, 1519, 328), for example, in his description of the citron, compares it 

 nth the Musk-melon. There are two primary forms of this plant, one bearing 

 icoth and the other fluted fruits ; the former is oblong in shape (*'. Mr/i/ 

 aper), and the latter a flattened spheroid (t\ m*>io/>e/>o, Roxb.). 

 The plant is now widely cultivated in both hemispheres and requires a warmer 

 climate than either '. inaj-tnm or <'. i*ei>o. It is grown as a field crop in 

 Northern India, and the yellow flesh is extensively cooked and eaten as a vegetable 

 throughout India. There appears to be a small form, about the size of a turnip, 

 which is grown under the names tendus (Bignor), tendu (Duab), tindu (Panjab), 

 id which makes a delicious vegetable when young or half ripe. This is men- 

 ioned in the Ain-i-Akbari (1590, I.e. 66) as a sweet fruit. 



C. Pepo, Linn. ; Fl. Br. Ind., ii., 622 ; Taylor, Topog. Stat. Dacca, 

 L840, 139-40; Firminger, Man. Gard. Ind. (ed. Cameron), 1904, 170; 

 an, Rept. Agri. Stat. Dacca, 1889, 46 ; Duthie and Fuller, I.e. i., 377. The 

 'umpkin, White-gourd, Vegetable Marrow (car. or i fern), kumra or 

 umara, safed kaddu, lanka, kaula, kohala, petha, bhunga, etc. 

 Leaves 5-palmate, sinus broad and segment pointed ; petiolo as long as the 

 ie, the hairs of the lower surface hardened into prickles ; corolla narrow 

 jwards the base and lobes erect ; calyx-segments linear lanceolate ; fruiting 

 iuncle woody, strongly grooved, and marked with ridges. 



441 



D.E.P., 

 ii., 640-1. 

 Musk- 

 melon. 



Cultivation. 

 Area. 



DJB.P., 

 ii., 641-2. 

 Pumpkin. 



