338 



Kworra [Niger] and Tchadda [Beimel (Barter, Herb. Kew). Found 

 also in Abyssinia, Nubia, Upper Nile, Zanzibar, India, Java &c. 



The fruit is eaten both raw and cooked, fresh when ripe, and in 

 curries and as a vegetable when green. Various medicinal uses 

 are attributed to all parts of the plant in India (Watt, Diet. Econ. 

 Prod. India). 



Cucurbita, Linn. 



Cucurbita maxima, Duchesne ; Fl. Trop. Afr. II. p. 555. 



Vernac. names. — Qara Soudani (Egypt, Brown) ; Maboga, 

 Matagararreh (Unyoro, Grant) ; Mirango (Mandingo, Dudgeon) ; 

 Laket (Joloff, Dudgeon) ; Calabacita cimerrona (Tabasco, Rovirosa). — 

 Calabash Gourd, Melon Pumpkin, Squash Gourd. 



Nupe (Barter, No. 1526, Herb. Kew). Gambia ; Angola ; Nile 

 Land ; Abyssinia, and cultivated in many hot countries, probably 

 throughout the world. 



Cultivated, sides of hills, but not confined to cultivated ground, 

 Nupe (Barter, I.e.) ; grown irregularly as a held crop, Gambia, and 

 exported in large numbers from the upper river to Sierra Leone 

 (Dudgeon, Rep. Agric. and Forest Prod. Gambia, Govt. Gaz. 

 5th March, 1910, p. 114). 



These gourds are used for various domestic purposes and are often 

 handsomely carved. Sometimes 2 ft. and upwards in diameter. 



The seeds yield an oil called " Pushini-Kaia " (Col. and Ind. 

 Exhib. Mus. Kew). 



Extensively used by the natives of Unyoro, — leaves, male flowers, 

 seeds and fruit being cooked and eaten (Grant, Trans. Linn. Soc. 

 xxix. 1875. p. 77) ; eaten when young and green as a vegetable in 

 India (Diet. Econ. Prod. India). 



Ref. — "Cucurbita maxima" in Diet. Econ. Prod. India, Watt, ii. 

 1889, pp. 638-640. PI. Potageres, Vilmorin-Andrieux, pp. 201-210. 



Cucurbita moschata, Duchesne ; Fl. Trop. Afr. II. p. 556. 



Vernac. names. — Qara Stambouly (Egypt, Brown) ; Tonasu 

 (Japan, Hayashi). — Mush Gourd, Portmanteau Gourd, Potiron, 

 Naples Gourd. 



Cosmopolitan in the tropics. Cultivated in Abyssinia. 



Used as a vegetable throughout India (Diet. Econ. Prod. India). 



Various medicinal uses are attributed to the plant in French 

 Guiana (Heckel, Ann. Inst. Col. Marseille, iv. 1897, p. 115). 



Ref. — " Cucurbita moschata" in Field and Garden Crops, N.W. 



Prov. and Oudh, Duthie & Fuller, ii. pp. 58-59. " Curcubita 



moschata" in Diet. Econ. Prod. India, Watt, ii. 1889, pp. 640-641. 



Cucurbita Pepo, DC. ; Fl. Trop. Afr. II. p. 556. 



Vernac. names. — Sakribonti (Accra, Easmon) ; Effehn (Fanti, 

 Gold Coast, Easmon) ; Cosa Standarani, Cosabeda — Vegetable 

 Marrows, Qara Magreby — Pumpkin (Egypt, Brown) — The Pumpkin, 

 Vegetable Marrow (sometimes distinguished as var. ovifera). 



Cultivated in many hot countries. 



Pumpkins and vegetable marrows, cooked and uncooked, are 

 excellent for the table. Pumpkins are also considered good food 

 for pigs and cattle. 



The seeds are eaten cooked, with Katwe salt, by the Baamba 

 Natives, Uganda (Dawe, Rep. Bot. Miss. Uganda, 1906, p. 22) ; 

 cracked small they are recommended for feeding poultry (Queens- 

 land Agric. Journ. viii. 1901, p. 36). They are regarded as an 



