622 BOTANY OF CROP PLANTS 



cucumbers, the stems, leaves, flowering heads, and seeds of 

 dill, and also, sometimes, a spice made from allspice, crushed 

 black pepper, coriander seed, and bay leaves. Some 

 vinegar is added in the later stages of the pickling process. 



CUCUMIS ANGURIA (Gherkin) 



Description. — This is an annual, creeping, branching 

 plant. The stems are slender, rough-hairy, and bear simple 

 tendrils. The leaves are deeply sinuate-lobed. Staminate 

 flowers are small, numerous, and on short peduncles, while 

 pistillate flowers are on long stalks. The fruit is about i)'^ 

 inches long, oval, prickly, and green with whitish streaks. 

 The flesh is thin, and the seeds form a proportionately large 

 percentage of the fruit. 



The species is native of the West India Islands. 



The genuine gherkins of commerce are the fruit of C. 

 anguria. Small cucumbers (C sativus) are often substituted 

 for them, however. 



CITRULLUS (Wateimelon, Citron, Colocynth) 



Description. — Citrullus species are coarse, trailing herbs 

 with branched tendrils. The leaves are rotund-cordate, and 

 three- to five-lobed. The flowers are monoecious, and always 

 solitary. In the staminate flowers, the calyx has a broad 

 campanulate tube and a five-lobed limb, and the corolla is 

 five-parted to below the middle; there are three stamens with 

 subsessile anthers, one of which is one-loculed, the other 

 two, two-loculed. In the pistillate flowers, the calyx and 

 coro.la are as described above. The ovary is ovoid with 

 three fleshy placentae; the style is short, with three large 

 stigmas, and ovules are numerous. The fruit varies widely 

 in form and size, color and thickness of skin, flavor, etc. 



