THE GOURD TRIBE. 53 



the structure of a Gourd, you will find that the princi- 

 pal differences are as follows. The Gourd has larger 

 leaves and ilo',vers, the latter being yellow ; the sterile 

 and fertile flowers both grow on the same plant ; 

 the anthers adhere together a little, and stand parallel 

 with each other ; the stigmas are two-lobed ; and 

 the fruit is a large seed-vessel, pulpy inside, but 

 having a hard rind externally, and containing a great 

 multitude of seeds. And if you examine others o 

 the plants already named, you will see that the dif- 

 ferences are of a similar description. 



The most curious plants of the Gourd Tribe are 

 the Bottle Gourd (Cucurbita lagenaria), which is 

 fashioned like a flask, and the inside being removed is 

 actually used as a water bottle, the Snake Cucumber 

 (Momordica cylindrica), whose slender cucumber-like 

 fruits are many feet long, and curved and twisted like 

 a vegetable snake, and the Spirting Cucumber (Mo- 

 mordica Elaterium), the seeds of which are ejected 

 with violence when the fruit-stalk is suddenly removed. 



You wdll now say, "I perceive the resemblance 

 between all the plants you have named to me, and I 

 understand their structure, but how do you show an 

 affinity between the Gourd Tribe and the Cactus 

 Tribe ?" That is the next point. 



In the first place, remember that the flowers of 

 Cactuses are not alw^ays large and manifold in struc- 

 ture, but sometimes very small, and the parts far from 

 numerous ; secondly, that, as 1 have long since said 

 (Vol. I. p. 105), the succulent character of Cactuses 

 is not peculiar, but common to them with many others. 



