cucu] 



Cf)e (Treasury of 28atang. 



358 



of the common Melon. It is not esteemed 

 in this country, where it is rarely grown. 

 [R. TJ 



CUCURBITACELE. (Nliandirobea, Cucur- 

 bits, the Cucumber and Gourd family.) A 

 natural order of polypetalousand gamope- 

 talous calycifloral dicotyledons, character- 

 ising Lindley's cucurbital alliance. Succu- 

 lent climbing plants with teudrils in place 

 of stipules, alternate palmately-veined 

 rough leaves, and staminate and pistillate 

 flowers. Calyx adherent, its limb five- 

 toothed, or obsolete. Petals four to five, 

 usually united (gamopetalous), reticulated. 

 Stamens generally five, distinct or com- 

 bined ; anthers long and wavy. Ovary 

 one-celled, inferior, with three parietal 

 placentas, which often send processes into 

 the cavity so as to reach the centre, and 

 there unite ; stigmas thick. Fruit succu- 

 lent, a pepo (gourd) ; seeds flat, without 

 albumen ; cotyledons of the embryo leafy. 

 Natives chiefly of hot countries; they 

 abound in India and South America, a few 

 are found in the North of Europe and 

 North America ; some are also met with at 

 the Cape of Good Hope and in Australia. 

 The plants of this order possess gene- 

 I rally a certain amount of acridity. Many of 

 them are powerful purgatives, such as the 

 inelou, cucumber.vegetable marrow, gourd, 

 pumpkin and squash ; while of others the 

 fruits are edible when cultivated. The 

 seeds are usually harmless. The pulp of 

 the fruit of Citrullus Colocynthis, the colo- 

 quintida, or bitter apple, is the colocynth 

 of the shops ; this is supposed to be the 

 wild gourd of Scripture. Ecbalium pur- 

 gans or agreste {Momordica JElaterium) is 

 called squirting cucumber on account of 

 the elastic force with which its seeds are 

 scattered ; the deposit from the fluid of 

 the fruit constitutes the powerful purga- 

 tive called elaterium. Cucumis sativus 

 is the common cucumber, C. Melo the melon, 

 and C. Citrullus, the water-melon. Cucur- 

 bita Pepo, the gourd, is a scrambling plant, 

 to which belong the vegetable marrows, 

 which are edible, the orange gourds, which 

 are bitter, the egg-gourds, giraumons, 

 crooknecks, Turks' caps.and warted gourds. 

 C. maxima, the pumpkin, bears immense 

 fruit ; and C. Melopepo, the Squash, forms 

 a bush about 3 ft. high, and may be had 

 in the shops under the names of Piitisson, 

 Elector's Cap, and Jerusalem Artichoke 

 Gourd. The seeds of Hodgsonia are eaten in 

 India. Lagenaria vulgaris supplies fruit, 

 which after the pulp is removed is used 

 for carrying water, under the name of 

 bottle-gourd. The fruit of Luffa .Egiipii- 

 aca is cut up when dry and used as a 

 flesh brush, under the name of towel-gourd. 

 Scchium edule yields an edible fruit called 

 chocho or chacha. The species of Bryonia 

 are purgative. There are three divisions 

 of this order : 1. Kliandirobea, anthers not 

 wavy, placentas adhering in the axis of 

 the fruit, seeds numerous ; 2. Cucurbitece, 

 anthers wavy, placentas and seeds as in the 

 first ; 3. Sicyece, placentas not projecting 

 into the cavy, seeds solitary from the top 



of the cell. There are about seventy 

 genera, and 340 species. Bryonia, Citrullus, 

 Momordica, Luffa, Cucumis, Cucurbita, 

 Coccinia, Trichosanthes, Telfairia, Feuillcea, 

 and Sicyos are examples. [J. H. B.] 



CUCURBITA. The typical genus of the 

 Cucurbitacece, and composed of herbaceous 

 mostly climbing plants, that are natives of 

 hot countries in both hemispheres, chief y 

 within the tropics. A few are found in 

 the north of Europe and North America, 

 but India appears to be their head 

 quarters. Those which are annuals readily 

 submit to the climate of northern lati- 

 tudes during summer. Although we best 

 know the cucurbits by the use of the 

 melon, cucumber, vegetable marrow and 

 similar plants, yet it must be borne in 

 mind that acrimony and a drastic tendency 

 pervade many species, the fruits of some 

 of which afford cathartics of remarkable 

 power. Such being the predominant quality 

 of the family it is well to be cautious in 

 the use of even the best known species. 

 (Lindl. Yeg. King. p. 313.) 



The Pompion or Pumpkin Gourd, C. 

 Pepo, of which there are many varieties, is 

 a tender or half-hardy annual, a native of 

 Astrachan, and is stated to have been culti- 

 vated in England since 1570. It has large 

 rough heart-shared five-lobed leaves, and 

 hispid branching tendrilled stems, which in 

 good soil will grow rapidly and cover a 

 large space in the course of a season ; the 

 flowers are large deep yellow. The fruit is 

 oblong egg-shaped, varying both in form 

 and size, and is used for soups or stews, 

 but more frequently in this country it is 

 mixed with sliced apples, to which a little 

 sugar and spice are added, and after being 

 baked is eaten with butter under the name 

 of pumpkin pie. Until 1815, according to 

 Loudon, this was the principal kind of 

 gourd cultivated in British gardens — 

 in those of the rich chiefly for ornament, 

 and in those of the poor, in some parts of 

 England, as a culinary vegetable. 



The Egg-shaped or Succade Gourd, or 

 Vegetable Marrow, C. ovifera succada, some- 

 times regarded as a variety of C. Pepo, is 

 believed to have been originally brought 

 from Persia, but the date of its iutroduc- 

 j tion is not exactly known. It is one of 

 1 the most valuable sorts of gourd for culin- 

 ary purposes that we possess. The plant is 

 similar in habit and appearance to the other 

 kinds of trailing gourds ; and the leaves are 

 rough, middle-sized, and deeply-lobed. The 

 fruit is of an uniform pale greenish yel- 

 low, of an elongated oval-shape, slightly 

 ribbed and about nine inches long. It is 

 used in every stage of its growth, and is 

 peculiarly tender and sweet ; when very 

 young it is good if fried in batter, but it is 

 in the intermediate or half-grown state 

 that it deserves the name of Vegetable 

 Marrow. It is then excellent when plain 

 j boiled and served with rich sauces. For 

 I many years this valuable esculent was 

 only to be met with in the gardens of the 

 wealthy, but it is now extensively culti- 

 I vated, and during the latter part of sum. 



