SYSTEMATIC BOTANY OF THE CULTIVATED CUCURBITS 



11 



The fruit is edible but the plant is more largely 

 grown in the United States for its ornamental value. 



9. CUCURBITA L. Sp. PI. 1010. 1753. Pepo 

 Adans. Fam. 2:138. 1763. Ozodycus Raf. Atlant. 

 Journ. 145. 1832. Sphetumtha Schrad. Linnaea 

 12:416. 1838. Pileocalyx Gaspar. Rendic. Acad. 

 Sci. Nap. 6:409. 1847. Tristcmon Scheele, Linnaea 

 21:586. 1848. 



Annual or perennial herbs with long-running, climbing, or 

 short and bushy through shortening of the nodes 1 , more or less 

 coarse-prickly angled or furrowed stems often rooting at the nodes; 

 tendrils branched; leaves usually simple, shallowly to deeply lobed, 

 occasionally palmately compound or nearly so, scabrous or pubescent, 

 rarely glabrate: flowers normally monoecious, large, creamy-white 

 to deep yellow, both calyx and corolla usually campanulate, normally 

 5 lobed; 0* solitary or fasciculate, long-pedunculate, stamens usually 

 3. the anthers united — one unilocular and the others bilocular, 

 sigmoid-flexuous, the filaments at least partly free: 5 solitary, 

 short -peduncled, staminoidia 3; ovary oblong or discoid, unilocular 

 with 3 to 5 placentae, style short thick, stigmas 3 to 5 and bilobate; 

 fruit fleshy or fibrous, indehiscent, seeds numerous, flat, smooth, 

 generally white or buffy but in some species black, grayish or brown, 

 ovate to oblong or nearly elliptic, the margin more or less thickened. 



An American genus of tropical origin composed of the following 

 species. 



KEY TO THE KNOWN SPECIES OF CUCURBITA 



Plants perennial: 



Leaves narrowly triangular, entire to shallowly-lobed, 



truncate or nearly so at the base. 



Calyx tube less than : _> inch long, segments nearly 



2 inches long: the corolla slightly exceeding the 



calyx segments: leaves thin, green. 1. C. Galoot lii 



Calyx tube more than s 4 inch long, segments some- 

 what shorter: the corolla about 3 inches long; 

 leaves thick ashy-green; fruit 3-celled. 



2. C. foetidissima 



Leaves suborbicular to ovate in outline, more or less 



deeply lobed, the basal sinus generally deep. 



Calyx tube long, narrowly sub-cylindric : leaves 



ashy-green; fruit 5-celled. 



Lobes of leaves deltoid, the sinuses reaching about 



halfway to the base 3. C. palmata 



Lobes of leaves nearly linear, the sinuses reaching 

 nearly or quite to the base 4. C. digitata 



Calyx tube short, campanulate; leaves pale or clear 

 green above, not ashy: fruit 3-celled. 

 Lobes of leaves acute: fruit small, 2 to 3 inches in 

 diameter 5. C. radicans 



Lobes of leaves rounded: fruit large, 4 to 6 inches 



in diameter 6. C. ficifolia 



Plants annual: 



Flowers creamy white: slender climbing vine. 



7. C. okeechobeensis 



Flowers yellow; stout trailing vines or sometimes bush". 

 Lower veins of leaf covered by prominently decurrent 

 blade to point of union with the petiole. 



8. C. moschata 



Lower veins of leaf naked near junction with petiole. 

 Seeds small, less than \4 incn kmg: black. 



9. C. Andreana 



Seeds larger, more than ' 4 inch long, white, 



tawny or grayish. 



Fruit stalk hard, ridged, pentagonal; leaves 



usually angled or deeply lobed; setae usually 



large and stiff 10. C. Pepo 



Fruit stalk more or less spongy, nearly cylindri- 

 cal; leaves rounded, occasionally lobed but 

 not angulate; setae generally small and often 

 interspersed with soft hairs. . 11. ('.. maxima 



1. Cucurbita Galeottii Cogn. in DC. Mon. 

 Phan. 3:551. 1881. 



Perennial vine with thick angular somewhat bristly stems; 

 leaves narrowly triangular lightly lobed, acute at the apex and 

 truncate or nearly so at the base, deep green above, ashy green 

 below, hirsute, sparingly so above and becoming glabrate, more 

 densely so below, the nerves prickly, 5-7 inches long; flowers small; 

 calyx tube narrowly campanulate less than ' ■> inch long with sub- 

 ulate lobes slightly dilate at the apex up to 2 inches long; corolla 

 slightly longer than the calyx lobes; fruit unknown. 



2. Cucurbita foetidissima H. B. K. Nov. Gen. & 

 Spec. 2:123. 1817. Calabazilla. Ozodycus perennis 



Raf. Atl. Journ. 145. 1832. Cuciimis perennis 

 James, in Long's Exp. Rocky Mrs. 2:20. 1823. 

 Cucurbita perennis A. Gray. PI. Lindh. 2:193. 

 1850. Pepo foetidissima Britton III. Fl. ed. 2 3:291. 

 1913. 



Perennial long-running vine with stout subcylindric stems 

 reaching 15-20 feet in length; leaves triangular-ovate, cordate or 

 truncate ^t base, acute at apex, somewhat ashy above and canescent 

 below, 4—10 inches long; flowers solitary, rather large; calyx tube 

 about 3 4 inch long, lobes very narrow and slightly shorter than the 

 tube; corolla 3—4 inches long; fruit 3-4 inches in diameter nearly 

 globular. 



Native to Northern Mexico and the Southwestern 

 United States. The leaves were used medicinally by 

 the Spanish and the carrot -shaped root is said to have 

 been employed as a cleanser. 



3. Cucurbita palmata S. Wats. Proc. Am. Acad. 

 11:137. 1876. Coyote Melon or Mock Orange. C. 

 californica Torr. ex Wats. 1. c. 138. 



Perennial trailing vine with slender sulcate steins several feet 

 long; leaves nearly suborbicular in outline palmately 5-cleft, ashy 

 green above and canescent below, more or less densely short hirsute, 

 3— 4'o inches across; calyx tube of z flower 1 inch or less in length, 

 the narrow teeth or lobes slightly shorter; corolla l'i to nearly 

 3 inches long; fruit 5-celled, about 3 inches long, nearly globular, 

 the peduncle with thickened ridges. 



Native to southern California and possibly adjacent 

 Nevada and Arizona. C. californica appears to be 

 but an extreme form with no characters to separate it 

 from the preceding species except the smaller size of its 

 parts. 



4. Cucurbita digitata. A. Gray, PI. Wrighti- 

 anae 2:60. 1853. 



Perennial trailing vine with slender obtusely angular stems 

 often rooting at the nodes; leaves suborbicular in outline but pal- 

 mately cleft nearly to the base into 3-5 sublinear segments; leaves 

 green and sparsely hirsute above, ashy green and more or less densely 

 short hirsute below. 5-8 inches across: calyx tube of f flower about 



