272 L1X. CUCURBITACE^E. CUCURBITA. 



3. C. ANGURIA. Pricldy Cucumber, St. prostrate, slender, hispid; tendrils 

 simple ; Ivs. palmately and deeply sinuate-lobed, cordate at base ; jr. oval-ovoid 

 or subglobose, echinate. Native of Jamaica. Cultivated for the green fruit, 

 which is about the size of a hen's egg, and used for pickles. Jl. Aug. 



4. C. CITRULT.US. Ser. (Cucurbita. Linn.') Water Melon. St. prostrate, slen- 

 der, hairy ; tendrils branching ; Ivs. palmately 5-lobed, very glaucous beneath, 

 lobes mostly sinuate-pinnatifid, all the segments obtuse ; fls. solitary, on hairy 

 peduncles, bracted at base;//-, elliptical, smooth, discolored. Native of 

 Africa and India. Generally cultivated for its large and delicious fruit. Jn. Aug. 



5. C. COLOCYNTHIS. Colocynth. St. prostrate, subhispid ; Ivs. cordate-ovate, 

 cleft into many obtuse lobes, hairy-canescent beneath; tendrils short; fls. axillary, 

 pedunculate; Q with a globose, hispid calyx tube and campanulate limb, with 

 small petals ; fr. globose, yellow when ripe, about as large as an orange, and 

 intolerably bitter. The extract is the colocynth of the shops, poisonous, but 

 medicinal. From Japan. 



6. LAGENARIA. Ser. 



Gr. \aysvos , a flagon or bottle ; from the form of the fruit. 



Flowers <?. Calyx campanulate, 5-toothed ; petals 5, obovate. cT 

 Stamens 5, triadelphous ; anthers very long, contorted. 9 Stigmas 

 3, thick, 2-lobed, subsessile ; pepo ligneous, 1 -celled ; seeds ariled, ob- 

 cordate, compressed, margin tumid. Mostly climbing by tendrils. 



L. VULGARIS. Ser. Calabash. Bottle Gourd. Softly pubescent ; st. climbing 

 by branching tendrils ; Ivs. roundish-cordate, abruptly acuminate, denticulate, 

 with 2 glands beneath at base ; fls. axillary, solitary, pedunculate ; fr. clavate, 

 ventricose, at length smooth. (T) Native within the tropics, often cultivated 

 the hard, woody rind of the fruit being used as ladles, bottles, &c. Flowers 

 white Jl. Aug. 



7. CUCURBITA. 



A Latin word, signifying a vessel ; from the form of the fruit of some species. 



Flowers c? . Corolla campanulate ; petals united and coherent with 

 the calyx, c? Calyx 5-toothed ; stamens 5, triadelphous, anthers syn- 

 genecious, straight, parallel. 9 Calyx 5-toothed, upper part decidu- 

 ous after flowering; stigmas 3, thick, 2-lobed; pepo fleshy or ligne- 

 01^, 3 5-celled ; seeds thickened at margin, obovate, compressed, 

 smooth. Fls. mostly yellow. 



1. C. PEPO. Pumpkin. Hispid and scabrous; st. procumbent; tendrils 

 branched ; Ivs. (very large) cordate, palmately 5-lobed or angled, denticulate ; 

 fls. axillary, tf long-pedunculate ; fr. very large, roundish or oblong, smooth, 

 furrowed and torulose. (T) Native of the Levant. Long cultivated as a useful 

 kitchen vegetable or for cattle. Flowers large, yellow. Fruit sometimes 3f 

 diam., yellow when mature, yielding sugar abundantly. Jl. 



2. C. MELOPEPO. Flat Squash. Hairy ; st. procumbent, with branched ten- 

 drils ; Ivs. cordate, palmately somewhat 5-lobed, denticulate-; fls. pedunculate ; 

 fr. depressed-orbicular, the margin mostly torulose or tumid, smooth or warty. 

 Native country unknown. Cultivated for its fruit, a well known kitchen ve- 

 getable. There are many varieties in respect to the fruit. 



3. C. VERRUCOSA. Warted Squash. Club Squash. Crook-neck Squash, <f*c. 

 Hairy, procumbent ; Ivs. cordate, palmately and deeply 5-lobed, denticulate, 

 terminal lobe narrowed at base ; fls. pedunculate, large ; Jr. roundish elliptic, or 

 clavate, often elongated and incurved at base. (J) Mentioned by Nuttall as long 

 cultivated by the Indians west of the Mississippi. Common in our gardens, 

 with numerous well known varieties of the fruit. Jl. 



4. C. OVIFERA. Egg Squash. Dvs. cordate, angular, 5-lobed, denticulate, 

 pubescent ; cal. obovate, with a short neck, limb deciduous after flowering; fr. 

 obovate, striped with" lines lengthwise. Native of Astrakan. Herbage and 

 flowers similar to those of C. pepo ; but less scabrous. 



