452 • CVI. CUCUEBITACE^. 



tudinally. Orary 1 -celled ; ovules 2-3, pendulous from the top of tlie cell. Oomiphogyne, 

 Actinostemma. 



Tribe VI. Gtnostbmme^, Sooh. fil. — Stamens 3-5, free or connate ; anthers 1-celled, 

 dehiscence longitudinal. Ovary 8-celled ; ovules 1-2, pendulous in each cell. Gynostemma, 

 ScMzopepbn. 



Tribe VII. ZANONiBiE, Hooh. fil. — Stamens 6, free ; anthers oblong, 1-celled ; dehiscence 

 longitudinal. Ovary with 3 thick placentas ; ovules many. Fruit l-ceUed, cylindric, truncate, 

 opening at the depressed vertex by 3 valves. Seeds winged. Zanonia, Alsomitra, Gerrard- 

 aiithus. 



Tribe VIII. 'Feyilvem, Hooh. fil. — Stamens 5, free ; anthers 2-celled. Ovary 3-celled ; 

 styles 3, distant ; ovules inserted on the axis of the ovary. Fruit large, indehiscent. Seeds 

 large, orbicular, attached to a large central trigonous column. Fevillea. — Ed.] 



The tendrils of Cueurbitacecu were long considered to consist of a solitary stipule, but Naudin's 

 observations render it more probable that the upper portion represents the midrib or principal nerve of 

 a leaf-blade, and the base a prolongation of the axis, i.e. a branch which is stunted near the point 

 where it leaves the stem and merges into the petiole of the leaf which springs from it. Oueurhitaceue are 

 more or less closely connected with Gronoviece [see Loaseis], Loaaece, BegoniaeecB, Papat/acecs, &c. 

 Oronovia only diifeis in its ^ flowers, didymous anthers, 1-ovuled ovary and nut. We have indicated 

 the affinities existing with LoaseiB and Passi^orees (which see). Cucurhitacem also somewhat resemble 

 BegoniacecB in the palminerved leaves, diclinism, extrorse anthers and inferior ovary ; but the latter 

 differ in polyandry, loculicidal capsule, very small seeds, stem without tendrils and clearly stipulate 

 leaves. There is also some analogy between Cucurbitacecs and Papayaoees [see Passiflorecs Tribe V., p. 448], 

 in diclinism, the berried fruit and palminerved leaves ; but in Papayacets the flower is diplostemonous, 

 the corolla is valvate [or contorted] and hypogynous, the anthers intror.'ie, the seed albuminous, &c. 

 Finally, Cucurbitacece, like Arisiolochieis, have an inferior ovary, extrorse anthers, climbing stem, alter- 

 nate leaves and axillary flowers, but the resemblance goes no further. 



Cucurbitacea: are met with in the tropical and sub -tropical regions of both worlds ; they are quite 

 absent from cold countries, and rare in temperate, although several tropical species can be cultivated 

 there in consequence of their short life, every phase of which can be passed through in a summer. 

 In comparing the Melon with the Colocynth, it might be thought that their properties were very dif- 

 ferent ; they are nevertheless identical in most species, and only vary in intensity according to the nature 

 and development of the organs, and the presence of certain accessory principles, the chief of which is sugar. 

 Many species, in fact, owe to bitter substances, extractable and sub-resinous, crystallizable or not, a drastic 

 «ind emetic quality, violent in some, weak in others, usually concentrated in the root, sometimes in the 

 pulpy fruit. The rind of many berries is bitter, while the flesh is rendered agreeable hy the sugar, 

 mucilage, salts, free acids and aromatic principles which it contains, besides which the quahty varies with 

 age and ripeness. The seeds are oily and rather bitter. Bryonia alba and dioica have a large root, 

 containing a milky juice, acrid and bitter, with a nauseous smell, and strongly drastic ; even externally, 

 if applied-fresh to the abdomen, it is purgative. The exotic Bryonias have the same property; the root 

 of P. abyssinica, rich in starch like all its congeners, is used as food in Abyssinia, after having been 

 cooked. The Colocynth (CitruUus Colocynthis) is an Eastern [and North African] plant, the fruits of 

 which are more bitter than those of any other species ; their spongy pulp, insipid and nauseous in smell, 

 contains a fixed oil, a resin, and an extractable principle, to which are due the drastic properties known 

 to the ancients. Ecbalium agreste, [the Squirting Cucumber,] commonly called Wild Cucumber, a plant 

 common about ruins throughout the Mediterranean region, and formerly renowned for its bitterness and 

 purgative properties, is now fallen into oblivion. The fruit of Luffa is eatable in India and Arabia 

 before it is ripe, but when ripe it becomes strongly purgative. The same is the case with that of 

 TrichosantJies angiiina, which gTows in China and India ,- and with the Momordicas of America. The 

 berry of Momordica Bahamina, infused in olive oil, enjoys among the inhabitants of tropical Asia a great 

 reputation as a vulnerary. The leaves of M. Charantia ^oaseaa the same properties. Among edible 

 Cucurbitacece we must place in the first rank the Pumpkin (Cucurbita vmschata. C. Penn. O Vm 



fvnn vmv. 



