M0N0EC1A MONADELPHIA 555 



Ik* middle of the peduncle {below the middle, DC.). Fruit someichut ovoid, taper- 

 fag at each end, angular, tuberculate, of a reddish-orange color whin mature. 

 H".b. Gardens: nst very common. Y\. July— August. Fr. Sept. 



Obs. This is occasionally cultivated for its fruit, Which is reputed balsamic and 

 vulnerary. I find, also, in our gardens, indiscriminately cultivated with this, the 

 M. Charantia, L.—with the stem pubescent, the leaves seven-lobcd, cordate in their 

 outline, and hirsute on the nerves, the tendrils pubescent, the bracts entire, and 

 situated below the middle of the peduncles, thef, uit oblong and acuminate. Tn i r* 

 has been one native species (though of somewhat doubtful generic character) found 

 in the T. States. 



445. CUCURBITA. L. DC. Prodr. 3. p. 31G. 

 [The Latin name for a gourd, or hollow vessel ; applied to this genus.] 



Corolla campanulate ; the petals coalesced with each other, and with 

 the calyx. Staminate Fl. Calyx hcmispherical-campanulatc. 

 Stamens 5, triadelphous and 6yngenesious ; anthers straight and par- 

 allel, with the base and apex abruptly curved. Pistillate Fl. Ovary 

 inferior ; calyx obovoid-clavate, always circumscissed below the limb, 

 after flowering ; stigmas 3, thick, 2-lobed. Fruit a fleshy, or sublig- 

 ncous, pepOy 3 to 5-celIed. Seeds obovate, compressed, smooth, the 

 margin scarcely tumid. 



Herbaceous : procumbent, or somewhat climbing by tendrils ; leaves alternate, 

 gubcordate and palmate-nerved ; flowers axillary, subsolitary, pedunculate. Kut. 

 Ord. 181. Lindt. Cucurbitacbje. 



1, C. Pepo, li. Leaves cordate, somewhat 5-lobed, denticulate ; 

 fruit subglobose, oblong, or subclavate, smooth, feshy. DC. Prodr. 

 3. p. 317. 



Vulgo — Pumpkin. Gallice — La grosse Citrouille. Potiron. 



Plant rough and hispid. Root annual. Stem a succulent vine 10 to Mfeet long, 

 magular, sparingly branched, procumbent, or somewhat climbing by branched ten- 

 drils. Leaves 9 to 12 or 15 inches long, and nearly as wide as long, obtusely cor- 

 date, somewhat o-lobed, denticulate ; petioles 3 to 6 or 8 inches long. Flower* 

 yellow, large, axillary, the staminate ones often solitary on a long peduncle,— vr 

 sometimes subsessile in small clusters on a common peduncle, and then generally 

 abortive. Fruit varying from depressed- globose to oval, oblong, and 'clavate, large, 

 smooth, dark green, or yellow, or mottled with yellow and cinereous, the rind thi<h 

 and fleshy, the cavity loosely filled wiUi a stringy pulp. 



Hat). Cultivated lots ; Indian-corn fields : common. FI. July. Fr. October. 



Obs. Extensively cultivated for its fruit,— of which there are numerous varie. 

 ties;— some of them attaining an enormous size (2 feet or more in diameter), but 

 not so valuable. The better sorts are often used at table,— affording the celebrated 

 Pumpkin pie of New England ; and the coarser varieties are esteemed for feeding 

 stock. Wlien growing in the vicinity of Squashes, the fruit qf this is liable to b* 

 converted into a Hybrid, qf little or no value. J huve had a crop of Pumpkins 

 totally spoiled by that cause,— the fruit becoming very hard and warty,— unfit for 

 the table, and unsafe to give to cattle. 



2. C. Mklopepo, Lt Leaves cordate, somewhat Wangled, denticu- 

 late ; fruit orbicular and much depressed, or elypeate, -with the mar- 

 gin mostly tumid. DC. Prodr. 3. p. 317, 



