Cucurbito. CUCURBIT A CE.E. 239 



for the hard-rinded Gourd, used for vessels. But the fleshy fruits of several are acid and purgative 

 (as in Elaterium and Colocynth, valuable in medicine), and so are the roots of all the perennial 

 species. The MegaiThiza-roots of California in this respect, as in size, are like those of Bryony in 

 Europe. 



* Seeds flattened : cotyledons thin, rising out of the ground and foliaceous in germination : fruit 

 fleshy : united calyx and corolla tubular-campanulate. 



1. Cucurbita. Flowers all solitary, large, yellow. Filaments distinct, but the flexuous anthers 



confluent. 



2. Melothria. Sterile flowers racemose, small, yellowish. Filaments and anthers distinct ; the 



cells of the latter straight. Berry small and j uicy. 



* * Seeds large, turgid : cotyledons thick and fleshy, remaining under ground in germination. 



3. Megarrkiza. Flowers small, white ; the sterile racemose. Corolla rotate. Fruit becoming 



dry and fibrous, few-seeded. 



1. CUCURBITA, Linn. 



Flowers monoecious, solitary. Calyx-tube cainpanulate ; lobes 5. Corolla cam- 

 panulate, 5-cleft to the middle or lower ; lobes recurved. Sterile flowers with the 

 stamens at the base : filaments free ; anthers linear, confluent, flexuous. Fertile 

 flowers with 3 rudimentary stamens : ovary oblong, with 3 placentas and numerous 

 horizontal ovules : style short : stigmas 3, 2-lobed. Fruit fleshy, indehiscent, often 

 with a hard rind. Seed ovate or oblong, flattened. Annual or perennial, mostly 

 prostrate and rooting at the joints ; leaves cordate, lobed ; tendrils compound ; 

 flowers large, yellow; fruit often large. 



A genus of half a dozen or more species, from some of which have come by cultivation all the 

 many different varieties of Pumpkin and Squash. 



1. C. perennis, Gray. Koot perennial, very large and fusiform: stems long, 

 trailing : leaves thick and scabrous, slightly tomentose beneath, triangular-cordate, 

 6 to 12 inches long, 4 to 8 wide, acute, the basal lobes rounded or angled, usually 

 mucronately denticulate, rarely sinuate ; petioles shorter than the leaves : tendrils 

 3 5-cleft : flowers violet-scented, 3 or 4 inches long, with obtuse mucronate lobes : 

 calyx-tube half an inch long, equalling the linear lobes : ovary pubescent : fruit 

 globose or obovoid, 2 or 3 inches in diameter, smooth, yellow, on a slender pedicel 

 an inch or two long ; shell filled with bitter fibrous pulp : seed thin, obovate, 4 or 

 5 lines long, obtusely margined. PI. Lindh. 193. Cucumis (?) perennis, James ; 

 Torr. & Gray, Fl. i. 543. 



Temescal (Brewer), San Diego (Cleveland, Palmer), and through Arizona and Northern Mexico 

 to Texas. The root sometimes descends 4 to 6 feet in the ground, with a circumference nearly 

 as great. In Southern California the plant is known as Chili Cojote and Calabazilla, and the 

 pulp of the green fruit is used with soap in washing and to remove stains from clothing. The 

 macerated root is also iised as a remedy for piles, and the seeds are eaten by the Indians. 



2. C. digitata, Gray. Root perennial, fleshy : stems slender, elongated, usually 

 prostrate anil rooting : tendrils short and delicate, 3 - 5-cleft : leaves scabrous, pal- 

 mately 3 - 5-parted ; the lobes narrowly lanceolate, 2 to 4 inches long, entire or 

 somewhat sinuate-toothed, or the lower lobed at base, about equalling the petioles : 

 flowers 2 or 3 inches long, acutely lobed, on slender pedicels 1 to 4 inches long : 

 calyx-tube | to 1 inch long, the narrow teeth only a line or two long : fruit subglo- 

 bose, 2 or 3 inches in diameter, yellow, loug-pedicelled : seeds thin, oval. PL 

 Wright, ii. 60. 



Lower Colorado Valley to New Mexico ; authentic specimens have not been collected within 

 the limits of the State. 



3. C. palmata, Watson. Canescent with short rough pubescence, appressed on 

 the leaves : stems leafy : leaves thick, cordate in outline, 2 or 3 inches broad, pal- 



