CUCURBITACE^:. 



415 



3 carpels, and having 3 parietal placentas (fig. 609), which sometimes 

 project so as to join in the centre, the ovules remaining attached to 

 the curved free edges; ovules solitary or indefinite (fig. 609), anatro- 

 pal; styles short; stigmas very thick, velvety or fringed (fig. 608 s). 



Fruit a pepo (^[ 551). Seeds flat and ovate (fig. 610), enveloped in ;i 

 juicy or dry and membranous covering; testa coriaceous; albumen 0; 

 embryo straight (figs. 610 e, 611); cotyledons leafy and veined; radicle 

 next the hilum. Herbaceous plants, with succulent stems, climbing by 

 means of lateral tendrils, which are transformed stipules; leaves al- 

 ternate and palmate, covered with asperities; flowers generally unisex- 

 ual. They are natives of warm climates chiefly, and abound in India. 

 There are nearly 60 known genera, and about 300 species. Examples 

 Cucurbita, Cucumis, Momordica, Bryonia, Telfairia. 



872. A certain degree of acridity pervades the order, and many of 

 the plants are drastic purgatives. In some cases, however, more 



Figs. 606-611. Organs of fructification of Cucurbitacese. 



Fig. 606. Male flower of Cucumis sativus, Common Cucumber, laid open to show the interior 

 of it. c, 5-divided calyx, p, United petals, by some considered as being an internal coloured 

 calyx, e, Epigynous stamens. 



Fig. 607. Stamens separated. /, Filament, a. Long sinuous anther. 



Fig. 608. Female flower, c u, Calyx adherent to the ovary, p, United petals, s, Thick vel- 

 vety stigmas. 



Fig. 609. Horizontal section of the ovary, showingits division into three, by projections from 

 the parietal placentas, to which the indefinite ovules are attached. 



Fig. 610. Anatropal seed cut vertically, t, Spermoderm swollen at the chalaza. r. , Embryo. 



Fig. 611. Embryo separated, r, Radicle, c, Cotyledons. 



