GOURD FAMILY. Cucurbitaccae. 



GOURD FAMILY. Cucurbitaceae. 



A large family, chiefly of the tropics, climbing or trailing, 

 herbaceous vines, usually with tendrils, rather juicy, with 

 no stipules; leaves alternate, with leaf-stalks, usually lobed 

 or cut; flowers some staminate and some pistillate; calyx 

 bell-shaped or tubular, usually five-lobed; petals mostly 

 united, usually five, on the calyx; stamens generally three, 

 with short filaments, often united; ovary inferior; fruit 

 fleshy, often with a hard rind, usually with flat seeds. 



There are many kinds of Micrampelis, natives of America. 

 A graceful, decorative vine, with many 



J^ c the ' . tendrils and spreading to a great distance, 



Wild Cucumber 



Micrampelis sometimes as much as thirty feet, partly 



fabacea (Echino- climbing over bushes and partly on the 

 cystis) ground, springing from an enormous 



bitter root as large as a man's body, the 

 California leaves slightly rough. The pretty little 



flowers are half an inch across, the calyx 

 with small teeth or with none and the corolla cream -white, 

 with from five to seven lobes; the staminate flowers in 

 loose clusters and the pistillate ones single. The fruit is 

 peculiar and conspicuous, a big green ball, very prickly 

 and measuring two inches across. The Indians used to 

 make hair-oil out of the seeds. This is also called Big- 

 root and Man-in-the-ground. 



There are several kinds of Cucurbita, natives of America, 

 Asia, and Africa. This is the Latin name for the Gourd. 



This is a near relation of the common 

 Calabazilla, Pumpkin and Squash and resembles them. 



Gourd TJ. ' j- 1 



Cucurbita ^ 1S an exceedingly coarse, but very 



foetidissima decorative vine, with bristly stems, trail- 



Yellow ing on the ground and sometimes twenty- 



Spring g ve eet i on g B T ne i eaves are about eight 



Southwest, etc. ;,*"- 7 . , ,,. , , , 



inches long, bluish-gray, thick and velvety, 



covered with bristles and exceedingly unpleasant to touch 

 but handsome in appearance. The gaudy flowers measure 

 five or six inches across, with a bristly calyx and bell-shaped, 

 orange-yellow corolla. The root is enormous, sometimes 

 six feet long, the fruit is a smooth, yellow gourd, and the 

 whole plant has a horrible smell. This is found in dry soil, 

 from Nebraska west, and is common in southern California 



