CUCURBITACEiE. 141 



thick : stigma subcapitate, 3-5-cleft. Pepo ob- 

 cordate, one-seeded ; seed ovate, plane, com- 

 pressed. 



Name from twa^u to fatten in a stall : the fruit having 

 the reputation of being useful for fattening hogs. 



1. Sechium edule. The Chocho. 



Stem smooth, leaves cordato-angulated, lobes 

 connivent at the base dentate, terminal lobe the 

 longest acuminate, tendrils 4-5-cleft, male flow- 

 ers racemose, female solitary in the same axilla, 

 fruit obovate 5-sulcated gibbous at the apex 

 piloso-echinated. 



Sechium foliis cordato-angulatis, racemis minoribus ad 

 alas, Browne, 355. — Sicyos edulis, Swartz, Prod. 116. — 

 Sechium edule, Swartz, Fl. Ind. Occ. 1150. 



HAB. Cultivated. In thickets. 

 F L. Throughout the year. 



The root of the mature plant is large and fleshy, resem- 

 bling the yam in appearance, and weighing from 10 to 20 

 pounds. The male flowers are arranged in a raceme, 

 which is axillary and longer than the petiole. Female 

 flowers subsolitary, axillary, shortly peduncled, accompa- 

 nying the male raceme. Fruit large, carnoso-succulent, 

 about 4 inches in length, usually furnished with small her- 

 baceous prickles. Seed ovate, compressed, an inch in 

 length, greenish, divisible into two plates, protruding from 

 the cleft apex of the fruit when ripe. 



This is a very wholesome fruit, being one of the few 

 vegetable productions of our gardens which admit of 

 being made use of even by the most delicate stomachs. 

 Like the Ochra, and the Indian- Kale, I never knew 

 either spasm or flatulence, or any of the usual symptoms, 

 of indigestion occasioned by it. There are two varie- 

 ties of the Chocho in cultivation ; 1st, the common 

 green ; and 2nd, the white. The latter is by far the 

 most delicate. With the addition of lime juice and sugar, 

 it supplies an ingredient for tarts. The root when dressed 

 is very wholesome and palatable, and can scarcely be 

 distinguished from the yam. 



