CUCURBITACE^ 615 



5. Mammoth Pumpkins and Squashes. — These are the 

 largest of the squashes. Some varieties (Mammoth Whale 

 squash, Valparaiso squash, Mammoth pumpkin) attain a 

 diameter of i to 2 feet and a weight of 100 to 200 pounds. 

 The Mammoth pumpkins are strongly flattened at the ends, 

 while the mammoth squashes are longer than broad, and 

 oblong or narrowly oval in shape. 



CUCURBITA MOSCHATA 



Description. — This is an annual with long, running, hairy 

 (never spiny) stems which readily root at the nodes. The 

 leaves are lobed, dark green and with whitish blotches here 

 and there. It is said that these whitish areas are due to a 

 thin layer of air beneath the epidermis. The calyx is deeply 

 lobed. The corolla widens upward. The peduncle is 

 angular, deeply ridged, and swollen where it joins th& fruit. 

 The flesh of the fruit usually has a musky flavor. 



The species is said to have originated in Eastern Asia. 



Types. — The principal types belonging to this species are: 



1. Canada Crookneck or Winter Gourd. — The plants are 

 small; the fruit is also rather small, smooth and crook- 

 necked. 



2. Cushaw. — This is the "pie pumpkin" or squash of the 

 South and Southwest. It is a crook-necked type of squash, 

 the skin of which may be white, yellow, or striped. 



CUCUMIS (Muskmelon, Cantaloupe, Cucumber) 



Stems, Leaves, Flowers. — All of our common species are 

 hispid or rough, trailing, annual herbs. The tendrils are 

 simple. The leaves are simple, palmately three- to five-lobed 

 or dissected. The flowers are monoecious. Rane finds that 

 some varieties of muskmelons possess perfect flowers. For 



