406 



CUCURBITACEAE (GOURD FAMILY) 



longer petiole. Flowers monoecious, 

 the staminate ones in small racemes 

 on long, slender, axillary peduncles ; 

 calyx cup-shaped, five-toothed ; co- 

 rolla with five lobes united at base, 

 white striped with green ; the three 

 stamens united and the anthers 

 cohering in a small, club-like mass ; 

 below, but in the same axils, are the 

 smaller pistillate flowers, in rounded 

 clusters on much shorter peduncles. 

 Ovary one-celled, the style short and 

 slender with three stigmas ; fruits in 

 clusters of three to ten, each con- 

 taining a single seed, ovoid, covered 

 with prickly, barbed bristles ; the 

 arrangement of the clusters is often 

 star-shaped. (Fig. 283.) 



Means of control 



When the weed invades a field, or 

 in any place where its growth is harmful, the roots should be cut 

 from the stem or jerked from the soil, leaving the vines to relax 

 and wither, for it is useless to try to untangle the clinging tendrils. 



FIG. 283. Star Cucumber (Si- 

 cyos angulatus). X \. 



CLIMBING WILD CUCUMBER 



Echinocystis lobata, T. & G. 

 (Micrdmpelis lobata, Greene) 



Other English names: Wild Balsam Apple, Mock Apple, Four- 



seeded Bur Cucumber. 

 Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

 Time of bloom : July to September. 

 Seed-time: August to October. 

 Range: Nova Scotia to the Saskatchewan, southward to Georgia 



and Colorado. 

 Habitat : Rich soil ; fence rows, thickets, and along streams. 



A rapid climber, often cultivated as a quick shade for an arbor 

 or as a cover for some eyesore of fence or building. Stem fifteen 



