346 Bonnct-Go7ird. 



BONNET-GOURD. 



One of the most interesting and probably useful members of the family 

 of Cucurbitacece, and one but little known, is the bonnet-gourd, a peculiarly 

 interesting gourd, and one so new, that it is worthy of a place in every gar- 

 den, whether cultivated for its graceful and handsome foliage, its rich- 

 colored flowers, or its curious fruit. 



This gourd is a rampant grower, making a vine running from twenty-five 

 to thirty feet, somewhat sharply five-angled, well foliaged with dark-green 

 leaves of a peculiar glinting or metallic green. Its leaves are three to five 

 lobed, six to nine inches in diameter, smooth above, lighter colored beneath, 

 and covered with short bristles. The flowers are a.xillary, in long spikes, 

 or racemes, male and female flowers on same spike, of a deep, rich chrome- 

 yellow, three and a half to four inches in diameter, five-petaled, calyx five- 

 parted, and the petals obovare. The flower throws open its rich bloom in 

 strong sunlight, being entirely opposite in this respect to many other mem- 

 bers of this family; and, when in full bloom, produces quite a beautiful effect. 

 The fruit is three-celled, twenty-four to twenty-six inches long, somewhat 

 triangular in shape, deeply furrowed by ten longitudinal stripes, or furrows, 

 elongated, or club-shaped ; gradually swelling from the stem to about two- 

 thirds or three-fourths of its length, then abruptly tapering to a point : its 

 largest diameter is about from four and a half to five inches. The color of 

 the fruit is dark green when in an unripe state, but rapidly changes to a yel- 

 lowish-green, or bronze, when ripening. It changes in color, like the Hubbard 

 Squash. Sometimes it is bent, but generally straight. At times, it has 

 well-marked white streaks. The vine is quite prolific, from fifteen to twen- 

 ty fruit being produced to a plant when grown in rich ground. The fruit, 

 in its ripe state, consists of a thin, brittle shell, hardly thicker than good 

 wrapping-paper, a number of black, flat, oval-shaped seeds, covered with a 

 thin, transparent membrane resembling gold-beater's skin, and a peculiar 

 white membrane, soft and pliable, and very strong. This membrane is an 

 interlaced mass of fibres resembling knitted goods. In its unripe state, 

 this gourd is said to be edible, and can be used like egg-plants. It resem- 

 bles a cucumber very much, being quite fleshy. The seeds are numerous, 



