430 BOTANY AND PHARMACOGNOSY. 



Description. — Anatropous, broadly elliptical, acute, acumin- 

 ate or truncate, flattened, about 20 mm. long, 10 mm. broad, about 

 2 mm. thick; externally white or light yellow, very smooth or 

 somewhat rough from adhering fruit pulp, marked by a shallow 

 groove or slight ridge parallel to and within i mm. of the margin ; 

 raphe not conspicuous, hilum characterized by a minute depres- 

 sion ; seed-coat consisting of two distinct layers — the outer white 

 and coriaceous and the inner dark green and membranaceous; 

 embryo white, straight, with a small hypocotyl and two plano- 

 convex cotyledons ; slightly odorous when contused ; taste bland. 



Constituents. — Fixed oil about 40 per cent. ; starch about 30 

 per cent.; proteids; an acrid resin; a glucoside (cucurbitin) and 

 possibly an alkaloid (cucurbitine), the presence of the last two 

 principles needing confirmation ; ash 3 to 4 per cent. 



Allied Plants. — The seeds of other species of Cucurbita are 

 also used in medicine ; in Italy C. ma-vima and in the West Indies 

 C. occidcntalis are the sources of the drug. 



The seeds of other members of the Cucurbitaceae are also 

 employed in medicine; they include the seeds of watermelon 

 {Citrulhis vulgaris), cucumber (Cucumis sativus), muskmelon 

 (Cucuiiiis fiielo) and lagenaria {Cucurbita Lagenaria) . 



STROPHANTHUS.— The ripe seeds of Strophanthus Komhe 

 (Fam. Apocynacese), a twining shrub found in Zambesi and other 

 parts of Eastern Africa (p. 363). The plumose awns at the apex 

 of the seeds are usually removed before exportation (Fig. 185). 



Description. — Hemi-anatropous, oblong-lanceolate or spatul- 

 ate, acute or acuminate, unevenly flattened and in transverse sec- 

 tion deltoid or plano-convex, 8 to 15 mm. long, 3 to 5 mm. broad, i 

 to 1.5 mm. thick; externally yellowish-green, covered with long 

 hairs giving a silky appearance to the seed, the raphe extending 

 as a distinct ridge from the hilum about half the length of the 

 seed; fracture short; internally whitish, endosperm about 0.2 mm. 

 thick, embryo 6 to 12 mm. long and i to 2 mm. broad, cotyledons 

 plano-convex, about i mm. thick, hypocotyl conical, 2 mm. long; 

 inodorous except when broken ; taste very bitter. 



When treated with concentrated sulphuric acid the endosperm, 

 in about 65 per cent, of the seeds, becomes green ; the cotyledons 

 red or purple and finally green, in some instances. 



