PUMPKINS AND SQUASBES 



297 



the outside of the forming fruit, while the pistil 

 (with its six stigmatic surfaces) is the central 

 structure. 



354. Three or four weeks later, the squash has 

 grown to the form shown in Fig. 303. The pistil 

 still occupies the center, and the sear -like rim 

 marks the insertion of the corolla 

 and calyx -lobes. The corolla was 

 not shed, but withered and per- 

 sisted, perhaps being torn by the 

 wind, and the widening pistil 

 tore it asunder in shreds across 

 the top of the fruit. Parts of 

 the corolla, held in the crevice, 

 are shown at a a. In Fig. 302, 

 there has been a different re- 

 sult. The corolla withered and 

 shrunk into a twisted mass (e), 

 and became detached ; but it was caught upon 

 the protruding stigmas, and there it still hangs. 



355. It still remains to determine what this 

 outer portion is, which forms the shell and meat 

 of the squash. We know that the inner part, or 

 "inside squash," is pistil, because it bears the 

 stigmas and because the corolla is attached be- 

 yond it. There is little evidence in the fruit 

 itself to enable us to interpret its structure ; but 

 embryology shows that the squash is a hollow 



Fig. 304. 



Portion of flower of 

 turban squash. 



