142 



DESCRIPTIVE BOTANY. 



his indispositiou was due to its excessive use. He therefore advised the king 

 to abstain from its use ; to which the monarch replied : " I will only eat five 

 for my breakfast." At the same time calling his gardener, he ordered him to 

 send the doctor a dozen for his breakfast. 



CITRULLUS, Schrad. (Melon.) Divisions of the calyx 5, nar- 

 row, lanceolate. Petals 5, united at the base and attached to the 

 bottom of the calyx. Stamens, in three groups, connected. Style 

 3-parted. Stigmas convex, heart or kidney-shaped. Fruit globular 

 or in the form of a prolate spheroid, from 6 inches to 2 feet in length, 

 and from 6 to 15 inches in diameter. Rind leathery, greenish-brow^i, 

 mottled or striped, with alternate green and yellow lines from an inch 

 to an inch and a half wide, filled wdth a fleshy, juicy placenta, or core, 

 of an orange-red color, sweet and edible. An herbaceous vine. 



C. vulgaris, Schrad. (Watermelon.) Stem 8 to 15 feet long, angular, 

 branched, rough, hairy, slender, trailing. Leaves 3 to 6 inches in length, 



lobed, and the lobes pin- 

 nately divided, glaucous 

 beneath, petioles 2 to 3 

 inches long. Flowers ax- 

 illary, on hairy pedicels, 

 about an inch and a half 

 in length, corolla yellow. 

 Flowers in June to July. 

 Fruits August to October. 

 Varieties. — There are 

 numerous varieties. 

 Among the most popular 

 are — 



The Black Spanish, 

 somewhat globular, deeply 

 ribbed lengthwise, skin 

 dark or blackish-green. 

 Quality excellent, and 

 grows Avell in New Jersey, 

 and as far north as southern 

 New York, especially on 

 Long Island. 

 The Bradford, or Carolina watermelon, a favorite in the Southern States; 

 one and a half to two feet long, striped or mottled ; pulp tender and delicious. 



The Mountain Sweet, a hardy and greatly esteemed variety ; grows well 

 in NeAV Jersey, Delaware, southern Fennsylvania, and Long Island. Pulp 

 dark-red, and delicious 



Odell's Large, of enormous sixe, round, gray ; seeds large, grayish-black. 

 A single melon of this variety has been known to weigh sixty pounds. 



Citron Watermelon, 6 to 10 inches in diameter, color pale-green, marbled 

 with darker shades; not edible rair, but highly prized for preserving. 



Geography. — U arrives at perfection only in tropical and subtropical coun- 

 tries, but succeeds well ni all southern Europe and southern and middle North 

 America, up to the 41st degree of latitude in North America. 



CiTRiTLLUS VULGARIS (Watermelon). 



