CUCURBITACEAE 459 



usually dehiscing by a circumsciss operculum at the top. (From the Arabic 

 or ijgyptian name of one species.) 



Species 6 in the warmer parts of the Old World, 2 introduced in the 

 Phihppmes. 



Stamens 6; fruit cylindric i jj cylindrica 



Stamens 2 or 3; fruit sharply 10-angled 2. L. acutangula 



1. L. CYLINDRICA Roem. (L. aegyptiaca Mill.). Patola, Taboboc (wild 

 form) (Tag.). 



A scandent, somewhat hairy or nearly glabrous, herbaceous, annual vine 

 reaching a length of 10 m or more,-the stems 5-angled. Leaves 10 to 20 

 cm m- diameter, orbicular-ovate to reniform-ovate, acuminate, shallowly 5- 

 or 7-angled or lobed, denticulate, scabrous, base deeply cordate. Male 

 flowers in axillary, solitary, long-peduncled racemes, crowded at and near 

 the apex of the peduncle. Calyx green, the lobes ovate-lanceolate, acumin- 

 ate, about 1 cm long. Corolla rotate, yellow, 5 to 7 cm in diameter. Sta- 

 mens 5. Female flowers solitary, peduncled. Fruit, oblong, cylindric, green, 

 12 to 30 cm long, smooth or slightly 10-ribbed. (Fl. Filip. pi. SSi, L. petola.) 



Commonly cultivated for its edible fruit, fl. all the year; common through- 

 out the Philippines, cultivated and wild. Tropics of the world, native 

 country uncertain. 



•2. L. ACUTANGULA Boxb. Patola (Tag.). 



A coarse, annual, herbaceous vine. Leaves suborbicular-ovate, 10 to 20 

 cm long, shallowly 5-lobed, base cordate. Female flowers axillary, pedi- 

 celled, solitary. Staminate flowers in axillary raceines, yellow, 2 cm long, 

 the calyx-lobes lanceolate, acuminate. Stamens 2 or 3., Fruit oblong- 

 oblanceolate, 20 to 25 cm long, about 5 cm 'in diameter, green, with 10, prom- 

 inent, long^itudinal, sharp angles. (Fl. Filip. pi. $88.) 



Cultivated for its edible fruit, occasionally subspontaneous, fl. July-Nov. ; 

 generally cultivated in the Philippines. India and Malaya. 



6.. BENINCASA Savi 



A coarse, hairy, climbing vine. Leaves cordate, reniform-orbicular, 

 more or less 5- or 7-lobed. Flowers large, yellow, monoecious, solitary. 

 Calyx-tube campanulate, the lobes 5, serrate, leaf-like. Petals 5, nearly 

 free, obovate. Male flowers with 5 stamens, the anthers free, one 1-celled, 

 two 2-celled. Female flowers with an oblong, densely hairy ovary; style 

 thick; stigmas 3, flexuose. Fruit large, fleshy, indehiscent, oblong or ellip- 

 soid; somewhat hairy, covered with a glaucous waxy bloom. (In honor of 

 Count Benincasa.) ' 



A monotypic genus. 



* 1. B. HISPIDA (Thumb.) Cogn. (B. cerifera Savi). Condol (Tag.). 



A rather coarse, spreading, hairy, annual vine reaching a length of 

 several meters, the younger parts rather densely villous. Leaves rounded 

 or reniform, deeply cordate, 5- or '7-lobed, 10 to 25 cm in diameter. Ped- 

 uncles hirsute, the males 5 to 15 cm long, the females much shorter. 

 Calyx-tube densely villous. Petals spreading, 3 to 5 cm long. Fruit ellip- 

 soid or oVal, rarely subglobose, 25 to 40 cm long, with few to many fragile 

 hairs, densely covered with a glaucous waxy hloom. (Fl. Filip. pi. 323.) 



Occasionally cultivated in our area, fl. Jan.-May, and probably in other 



