388 BOTANY AND PHARMACOGNOSY. 



as Black bryony, but this plant should not be confounded with 

 Tamus communis (Fam. Dioscoreaceae) , of Southern Europe, 

 the rhizome of which is known commercially as Black bryony. 



The fruits and seeds of various members of the Cucurbitaceae 

 contain powerful drastic and anthelmintic principles. A number 

 of the plants, however, are cultivated on account of the fruits, 

 which are used as food, as the pumpkin already mentioned, the 

 , WATER MELON {Citrullus Vulgaris), indigenous to Southern Africa 

 and cultivated in Egypt and the Orient since very early times; 

 CANTALOUPE or musk-mclon, derived from cultivated varieties of 

 Cucumis melo, indigenous to tropical Africa and Asia, also culti- 

 vated since early times. The common cucumber is obtained 

 from Cucumis sath'its, which is probably indigenous to the East 

 Indies. These fruits contain from 90 to 95 per cent, of water, 

 and the water melon contains 3.75 per cent, of dextrose, 5.34 per 

 cent, of saccharose and yields 0.9 per cent, of ash. 



Luffa cylindrica is an annual plant indigenous to the Tropics 

 of the Old World. It is cultivated to some extent in America, 

 but especially in the Mediterranean region. The fruit is more or 

 less cylindrical and 20 cm. or more long. The pulp is edible and 

 the fibrovascular tissue forms a tough network, which, when the 

 seeds, epicarp and pulpy matter are removed, constitutes the 



LUFFA-SPONGE. 



The fruits of Luifa opcrculata and L. cchinata, both found in 

 Brazil, contain a bitter principle resembling colocynthitin. 



b. CAMPANULACE^ OR BELL-FLOWER FAMILY.— 

 The plants are mostly annual or perennial herbs, but are some- 

 times shrubby, with an acrid juice containing powerful alkaloids. 

 The rhizomes and roots of about twelve of the genera contain 

 inulin. The leaves are alternate ; the ' corolla is regular, cam- 

 panulate and rotate, or irregular, as in Lobelia. The fruit is a 

 capsule or berry containing numerous small seeds. 



Lobelia inflata (Indian or Wild tobacco) is an annual pubes- 

 cent, branching herb (Fig. 272), the dried leaves and tops of 

 which are official (p. 633). About 15 different species of Lobelia 

 are used in medicine. The most important of those growing in 

 the United States is the Cardinal flower or Red lobelia (Lobelia 

 cardinalis), a plant found in moist soil from Canada to Texas, 



