CoccixViA.! CUCURBITACE^. 875 



A perennial her"b, with trailing angular scabrous stems. Tendrils 2-fid, 

 Leaves 2^ by scarcely 2 in. in the typical wild very scabrous form, 

 larger in the cultivated forms which approach 0. vulgaris, ovate or 

 narrowly triangular, cordate or reniform at the base, deeply divided, 

 the mid-lobe twice pinnatifid and much longer ; 'petiole 1 in. Petals 5 in., 

 obovate, light yellow. Fruit up to 3 in. in diam,, globose, variegated 

 with dark-green and white; pulp dry, spongy, intensely bitter. 8eeds 

 not margined. 



In sandy tracts within the area. Distrib. In many parts of India both 

 wild and cultivated, and in Ceylon. It is indigenous also in Arabia, W. 

 Asia, ]Sr. and Trop. Africa and in the Mediterranean region. The 

 .bitter seed-bearing portion f>f the fruit is a well known purgative, the 

 oil obtained from the seeds and the root is also used medicinally. 



2. C. vulgaris, Schrad.; F. B. I. n, 621 ; Cogn. in DC. Mon. Phaii. 



-iii,50^; D.C.L'Orig. tl. Quit. 209 ; Field ^ Qard. Crops part ii,t. t. 

 LV Sf LVl ; Watt E. D. Oucurbita CitruUus, Linn. ; Roxh. Fl, Ind, Hi, 

 719 ; f^. <^ A. Prod 351.~Yevn, Tarhuza. (The Water-melon.) 



An extensively climbing annual with thick angular branching stems ; 

 young shoots villous, woolly at their tips. Tendrils bifid, stout, pubes- 

 cent. Leaves 3-8 in. long, deeply divided, or but moderately lobed, 

 glabrous or somewhat hairy, hardly scabrous ; petiole a little shorter 

 than the limb, villous. Qalyx-lohes narrowly lanceolate, equalling the 

 tube. Corolla yellow within, greenish outside and villous ; lobes 

 ovate-oblong, obtuse, prominently 5-nerved. Fruit up to 10 in. in diam., 

 subglobose or ellipsoid, smooth, greenish or clouded, often with a 

 -glaucous waxy coating ; flash juicy, red or yellowish-white. Seeds 

 usually margined. 



Largely cultivated within the area, and throughout India and in all warm 

 countries of the world. It is indigenous in Trop. and S. Africa, The 

 fruit of the wild plant may be bitter or sweet without any observable 

 difference externally. In Upper India the fruit ripens at the beginning 

 of the hot season. 



■Yk-r. fistulosus, Field ^ Qard. Crops part ii, 46, t. _ XLVII ; Watt E. J). 

 0. fistulosus, Stochs.—Yeinn. Tendus, tendu, tensi Stems and petioles 

 hollow. Tendrils ^A- raxelj 5-fid. Leaves much less divided. Fruit 

 about the size of a small turnip, depressed at each end, hispid when 

 young, afterwards glabrous. Its cultivation is ccnfined to the W, 

 districts of the area, and it is largely grown in the Punjab and in Sind 

 where it is called dilpasand The fruit, which ripens during the rainy 

 season, is eaten as a vegetable, and is often pickled when young. It is 

 highly esteemed both by Hindus and Mussalmans. 



9. COCCINIA, W. & A. 



(under Oephalandra in Fl. Brit. Ind. ii, 621.) 



Climbing or prostrate herbs, glabrous or scabrous. Tendrils simple, 

 jarely 2-fid. Leaves petioled, 5-angular or 5-lobed, toothed. Flowers 



