908 



CUCUMIS 



CUCUMIS 





1126. Branch 



of Cucumis 



sativus. 



Cogniaux refers such names as C. Chate, Linn., C. 

 pubescens, Willd., C. maculatus, Willd., C. ;campechianus 

 Kunth, C. Gurmia and C. Chaeta, Wall., C. maderas- 

 palanus, Roxbg., C. eriocarpus, Boiss., C. picrocarpus 

 and C. jucundus, Muell., C. trigonus, Benth. (not 

 Roxbg.), C. Pancherianus, 

 Naudin, and the varietal 

 names maculatus, Cossonia- 

 nus, texanus, cantonianus, 

 saharunporensis, anatolicus, 

 sethiopicus of Naudin. 



2. Subspecies or var. 

 culta, Kurz. The many 

 forms of the cult, melon: 

 plant very robust :fls. longer- 

 pedunculate, 3-5 together 

 and large: fr. large to very large, edible: 

 widely variable; when forced under glass 

 the Ivs. tend to be more prominently lobed. 

 See Melon. Forms of this group may be 

 distinguished as follows: Var. Chito, Naudin 

 (C. Chito, Morr.). ORANGE MELON. MANGO 

 MELON. MELON APPLE. VINE PEACH. 

 GARDEN LEMON. VEGETABLE ORANGE. 

 Vine less robust than that of the musk- 

 melon, and Ivs. smaller: fr. size, shape and 

 color of an orange or lemon, without mark- 

 ings, with a white or pale yellow cucumber-like flesh, 

 with no muskmelon odor. Not edible in its natural 

 state, but useful for the making of preserves (or 

 "mangoes") and pickles. Name pronounced keeto. 

 Cf. Bull. 15, Cornell Exp. Sta.; A.G. 14:206 The 

 "Lemon cucumber" offered by dealers is apparently 

 a form of C. sativus, the fruit being nearly round with 

 yellow and green markings and 

 smooth skin, like the lemon. 

 Var. Dudaim, Naudin (C. Dudaim, 

 Linn. C. odoratissimus, Moench). 

 DUDAIM MELON. POMEGRANATE 

 MELON. QUEEN 

 ANNE'S POCKET 

 MELON. Vine 

 small, as in the 

 last: fr. size and 

 shape of an 

 orange, somewhat 

 flattened at the 

 ends, very regu- 

 lar and smooth, 

 marbled with 



longitudinal markings of cinnamon-brown overlying 

 yellow, exceedingly fragrant. A most handsome gourd- 

 like fr. and highly and deliciously perfumed. Not 

 eaten. A nearly odorless and scarlet-rinded form is 

 separated by Naudin as var. erythrseus. Var. acidulus, 

 Naudin. CUCUMBER MELON. Frs. oblong or cylin- 

 drical, mottled or unicplored, the flesh white and cucum- 

 ber-flavored. No varieties in the American trade are 

 of this group, but they are occasionally seen in bo- 

 tanical gardens and experimental grounds that import 

 seeds of oriental plants. Var. flexuosus, Naudin 

 (C. flexuosus, Linn.). SNAKE 

 MELon. SNAKE CUCUMBER. Fr. 

 many times longer than broad, 

 greenish at maturity, variously 

 curved and furrowed. A.G. 14: 

 203. Fr. often 2-3 ft. long, and 

 1-3 in. diam. Grown mostly as 

 an oddity, but it is useful for the 

 making of conserves. The hard- 

 shelled snake gourd is a Lagen- 

 aria (which see). Var. inodorus, 

 Naudin. WINTER MELON. Lvs. 

 lighter colored, less hairy, nar- 

 rower: frs. possessing little or 

 none of the common musk- 



melon odor, and keeping long. The winter muskmelons 

 are little known in this country, although they are 

 worth} of popularity. Much cult, in parts of the Medit. 

 region. Var. saccharinus, Naudin. PINEAPPLE MELON. 

 Comprising varieties of oblong shape and very sweet 

 flesh. Not sufficiently distinct from the 

 next. Var. reticulatus, Naudin. NUTMEG 

 or NETTED MELONS. Frs. softer rinded, 

 more or less netted, or sometimes almost 

 plain or smooth. Comprises the common 

 muskmelons, aside from cantaloupes. 

 Var. cantalupensis, Naudin. CANTALOUPE. 

 ROCK MELONS. Frs. mostly 

 n hard-rinded, more or less 

 =-= "*^ warty, scaly or rough, often 

 deeply furrowed or grooved. 

 Name derived from Canta- 



luppi, near Rome, a former country seat of the Pope, 

 whither this type of melons was brought from 

 Armenia. In the U. S. the word cantaloupe is often 

 used as a generic name for muskmelon, but it is 

 properly a name of only one group of muskmelons 

 the hard and scaly-rinded (see Waugh, G.F. 8:183). 



AA. The, cucumber group: fr. spiny or tuberculate 



(nearly unarmed in C. Sacleuxii) . 

 sativus, Linn. CUCUMBER. Figs. 1125, 1126. Long- 

 running, prickly: Ivs. usually 3-lobed (or strongly 

 angled), the middle lobe most prominent and often 

 pointed : fr. prickly or muricate, at least when young, 

 but in some varieties becoming smooth, mostly oblong, 

 the flesh white. S. Asia. See Cucumber. Runs into 

 many fr.-forms in cult., but not so widely polymor- 

 phous as C. Melo. Var. anglicus, Bailey. Figs. 1121, 



1122. ENGLISH or 

 FORCING CUCUM- 

 BER. A product 

 of cult, and selec- 

 tion, distinguished 

 from the common 

 or field cucumbers 

 follows : frs. 



1127. Spray of Cucumis 

 Anguria. (X 1 A) 



(and ovaries) very 

 long and slender, 

 little if any fur- 

 rowed, spineless 

 or nearly so when 



grown, nearly or quite green at maturity, 

 comparatively few-seeded: fls. very large: 

 Ivs. very broad in proportion to their length, 

 with shallower sinuses: vines very vigorous, with long 

 and thick tendrils. Var. sikkimensis, Hook, f., cult, in 

 the Himalayan Mts., but not known to be in this 

 country; has large 7-9-lobed Ivs. and cylindrical-club- 

 shaped fr. B.M. 6206. 



Angfcria, Linn. (C. echinatus, Moench. C. angurioides, 

 Roem. C. grossulariseformis, Hort.). BUR CUCUMBER. 

 WEST INDIAN GHERKIN. GOOSEBERRY GOURD. Figs. 

 1127, 1128. Sts. slender, hispid: Ivs. deeply cut into 

 3-5 narrow obovate or spatulate divisions, watermelon- 

 like: fls. small, the pistillate long-stalked: fr. 1-3 in. 

 long, cucumber-like but more spiny. Supposed to be 

 native to the American tropics. B.M. 5817. Cult, 

 both for the oddity of its frs. and for the making of 

 pickles. The gherkins of mixed pickles, however, are 

 young cucumbers. 



dipsaceus, Ehr. (C. bcrdana and C. ambigua, Fenzl. 

 C. erinaceus, Hort.). DIPSACEOUS 

 GOURD. OSTRICH-EGG GOURD. 

 HEDGEHOG GOURD. Plant and 

 foliage like that of C. Melo: fls. 

 long-stalked: fr. 1-2 in. long, 

 oblong or nearly spherical, be- 

 coming hard and dry, densely, 

 beset with long scales or hairs, 

 1128. Fruit of Cucumis Anguria. (XH) an d looking like a bur. Arabia, 



