8 



THE VEGETABLES OF NEW YORK 



vauxia) Scop. Intr. 152. 1777. Amordica Neck. 

 Elezn. 1:241. 1790. Poppya Neck. 



Monoecious annual vines with branched tendrils; leaves 5- to 

 7-lobed, rarely sub-entire; flowers yellow rarely white, rather large, 

 o* racemose, 9 solitary; corolla of 5 free petals; stamens 3, rarely 

 4 or 5; ovary with 3 placentae; stigmas 3, bilobate; fruit dry, oblong 

 or cylindrical, the interior fibrous; seeds numerous. Of the 8 species 

 known all (except one) are conceded to have originated in the 

 tropics of the Old World. The one exception, L. operculata, is 

 known to date only from Tropical America, but it, too, probably 

 originated in the Old World. Only one species is commonly culti- 

 vated in this country. 



Luffa cylindrica (L. ) M. Roem. Syn. Pepon 63. 

 1846. Rag-Gourd. Momordica cylindrica L. Sp. PL 

 1009. 1753. M. Luffa L. /. c. Turia cordata J. F. 

 Gmel. Syst. 403. 1791. T. cylindrica J. F. Gmel. /. c. 

 L. aegyptiaca Mill. Gard. Diet. ed. gall. 4:500. 1785. 

 Cucumis lineatus Bosc. Journ. His. Nat. 2:251. 

 1792. Momordica reticulata Salisb. Prod. 158. 1796. 

 L. pentandra Roxb. Hort. Beng. 70. 1814. L. scabra 

 Schum. 8s Thonn. Beskr. Guin. PL 405. 1827. 

 Momordica carinata Veil. Fl. Flum. 10: t. 97. 1827. 

 L. Petola and L. Cattu-Picinna Ser. in D. C. Prod. 

 3:303. 1828. Byronia cheirophylla, Cucumis 

 acutangulus, Luffa amara and L. hederacea Wall. 

 List. 1832. L. Satpatia and L. Parvala Buch.-Ham. 

 in Wall. 1. c. L. clavata and L. racemosa Roxb. 

 Fl. Ind. 3:714 and 715. 1832. Cucumis pentrandus 

 Roxb. ex Wight. 8s Am. Prod. 1:343. 1834. L. 

 striata Schrad. Ind. sem. Gott. 1835. Cucumis 

 metacarpus G. Don, Gen. Syst. 3:28. 1836. L. 

 foetida Jacq. f. ex Schrad. Linnaea 12:405. 1838. 

 L. Jacquinii Schrad. 1. c. L. vittata Zipp. ex Span. 

 Linnaea 15:206. 1841. L. leucosperma Roem. Syn. 

 Pepon. 63. 1846. L. insularum A. Gray, U. S. 

 Exp. 1:644. 1854. L. sylvestris Miq. Fl. Ind. Bot. 

 1:666. 1856. Poppya Fabiana K. Koch Berl. Allg. 

 Gart. 60. 1857. L. leiocarpa F. Muell. Fragm. 

 3:107. 1862. Karivia? longicirrha Miq. Pro/. F/. 

 /ap. 12. 1866. L. Veitchii Naud. Rev. rforr. 58. 

 1873. 



Stem 6 to 15 feet long, 5-angled, slender, smooth but the 

 angles scabrous; leaves deltoid to nearly orbicular in outline but 

 acute or acuminate at the apex, usually more or less deeply 3-7 lobed, 

 dentate, scabrous; flowers yellow, 2-4 inches across, o" and 9 in the 

 same leaf axils; fruit fusiform, cylindrical, or elongate-clavate, not 

 ribbed but usually with light furrows and stripes, 1-2 feet long. 



Like most of the other species in the genus the fruit 

 is edible when young but finds a wider use in the United 

 States as an ornamental vine. The dried inner fibrous 

 portion of the fruit is used as a sponge, a use which has 

 given the plant such names as Rag-Gourd, Vegetable 

 Sponge, and Dish-cloth Gourd. 



5. BEMNC VS\ Savi. Bibl. Ital. 9:158. 1818. 

 Only one species is known, the description of which 

 will include the generic characters. 



Benincasa hispida (Thunb.) Cogn. in DC. 

 Mon. Phan. 3:513. 1881. Chinese Preserving Melon. 

 White Gourd. Cucurbita hispida Thunb. Fl. Jap. 322. 

 1784. C. pruriens Sol. ex Forst. Prod. 92:1786. 

 (nomen). B. cerifera Savi 1. c. B. cylindrica Hort 

 ex Ser. Mem. Phys. Gen. 3:1. 1825. Cucurbita 

 villosa Blume, Bijdr. 931. 1826. C. farinosa Blume 

 /. c. Lagenaria hispida Ser in DC. Prod. 3:303. 

 1828. Cucurbita Camolenga Buch.-Ham. in Wall. 

 Dist. 1932. C. alba Roxb. ex Wight 85 Am. Prod. 

 1:344. 1834. C. Pepo-aspera Blanco Fl. Filip. 773. 

 1837. C. littoralis Hassk. Car. Hort. Bogor. 190. 

 1844. Gymnopetalum septemlobum Miq. Fl. Ind. 

 Bot. 1:679. 1855. Lagenaria dasystemon Miq. 

 Prol. FL Jap. 13. 1866. Cucurbita vacua F. Muell. 

 Fragm. 6:186. 1868. B. vacua F. Muell. Cens. 

 Austr. PL 76. 1882. 



Monoecious long-running annual, with branched tendrils and 

 brown-hairy stems; leaves palmately veined, 5-angled, reniform- 

 ovate to nearly pentagonal -orbicular, strongly cordate, hirsute or 

 glabrate, apiculate dentate; flowers solitary, yellow, 3-4 inches 

 across, 0* long pedunculate; y short pedunculate; petals 5, anthers 

 free, ovary with 3 placentae; fruit nearly spherical to oblong; 

 10-20 inches long, 4-10 inches thick, white waxy, hairy, greenish 

 or marbled with white; seeds numerous. The fruit is used mostly 

 in pickles and conserves. 



6. CITRULLUS 8 Fcrsk. Fl. Aeg.-arab. 167. 1775. 

 Anguria Mill. Gard. Diet. abr. ed. 4. 1754. Colo- 

 cynthis Ludw. Inst. Regn. Veg. ed. 2. 139. 1757. 



Monoecious or dioecious, long-running annual or perennial 

 herbs with or without tendrils; leaves deeply 3-7 lobed, pinnatifid, 

 roundish or deltoid-ovate in outline; flowers yellow, short peduncu- 

 late, o" and 9 solitary, rarely fasciculate; sepals 5; corolla deeply 

 5-parted, rotate or broad-campanulate, stamens 3, anthers free or 

 lightly coherent; ovary with 3 placentae, stigmas 3, thick, somewhat 

 bilobate; fruit globose or oblong, fleshy or dry, many seeded. 



Of the four species of this genus only the following 

 species is of importance in America though C. Colo- 

 cynthis, the colocynth, has been grown to a slight extent. 



Citrullus vulgaris Schrad. in Eckl. 8m Zeyh. 

 Enum. 279. 1836. Watermelon. Cucurbita Citrul- 

 lus L. Sp. PL 1010. 1753. "Citrullus battich 

 of Forsk. Fl. Aeg.-arab. 167. 1775 " fide some later 

 auth. Angaria Citrullus Mill. Gard. Diet. ed. 8. corr. 

 1768. Cucurbita Angaria Duch. in Lam. Encycl. 

 2:158. 1786. C. pinnatifida Schrank, Regensb. Syll. 

 PL 1:190. 1824. Citrullus Pasteca Sag. Am. Sci. 

 Nat. I. 8:312. 1826. Cucumis amarissimus Schrad. 

 Ind. Sem. Gott. 1827. C. Citrullus Ser. in DC. 

 Prod. 3:312. 1828. C. laciniosus Eckl. ex Schrad. 

 /. c. Cucurbita caffra Eckl. 8s Zeyh. Enum. 279. 

 1836. Citrullus caffer Schrad. Ind. Sem. Gott. 1834. 

 Cucumis dissectus Decne. Ann. Mus. Paris 3:449. 

 1834. Citrullus chodospermus Fal. & Dunal, Bull. 

 Soc. Agr. Herault. 264. 1836. C. Caffrorum Schrad. 

 Linnaea 12:413. 1838. C. edulis Spach. Hi'sr. Nat. 



The name Citrullus is here used as the most familiar generic term for the watermelon, despite the fact that there are two earlier 

 names. The disposition of one of these names is involved in a resolution which has been referred to a committee on nomenclature appointed 

 at the 1935 International Botanical Congress. Until that committee's report has been received and accepted, it seems wise to use the name 

 generally used, even though it is technically invalid. The use of the specific name is. of course, also involved in the action on the generic 

 name. The name here used is the one usually found in manuals, etc. 



