CUCURBITACEAE 



GOURD FAMILY 



WILD CUCUMBER. WILD BALSAM APPLE 



Echinocystis lobata (Michx.) T. & G. 



The Wild Cucumber or Wild Balsam Apple is found along 

 rivers and in waste places from New Brunswick to Manitoba and 

 south to Virginia and Texas. It is often used as an ornamental 

 plant for covering un- 

 sightly objects. The 

 flowers are very fra- 

 grant at night. 



The stem is nearly 

 smooth but angular 

 and grooved. It is 

 much branched and 

 climbs to a height ot 

 15-25 feet. The leaves 

 are rough on both 

 sides. 



The flowers, pro- 

 duced from July to 

 September, are im- 

 perfect, with both 

 forms on the same 

 plant. The staminate 

 flowers are greenish 

 white and very nu- 

 merous in axillary 



compound racemes. The pistillate are usually solitary in the 

 same axils. Each staminate flower has 3 stamens. The fruit is 

 at first fleshy but finally becomes dry and is thickly covered 

 with weak prickles. It usually contains 4 large flat seeds. 



The Missouri or Fetid Wild Gourd, Cucurbita Joetidissima HBK., 

 is a trailing plant whose large, rough, angled stems extend 5-25 feet 

 and bear few very large, alternate leaves that are long petioled, 

 triangular-ovate and heart shaped at the base. It is perennial by 

 an enormous root, sometimes 6 inches in diameter, which descends 

 to unusual depths in search of moisture. The imperfect flowers are 

 very large, yellow and solitary in the axils from May to September. 

 Stamens are 3, pistil i, and the globose ovary develops into a large 

 yellow, thick-rinded berry called a pepo. 



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