CITRULLUS VULGARIS, Schrad." 



{Vide Plates LV. and LYI.] 



English, water melon; Yehnaculak tarbuza, kalinda, hindwanajt Sanscrit, chaya-pula-t 



Natural order Cucurhitacece, tribe Cucumerinece. A climbing or trailing hispid annual. Stems 

 branching, angular ; tendrils 2-fid, firm ; pubescent. Petioles about 2 in., nearly round, villous ; 

 blade of leaf 3-5 in. long by 2-3 in. broad, triangular ovate, cordate, deeply trifid, segments pinna- 

 tifid or bi-pinnatifid, terminal one larger ; lobes undulate or lobulate, palo green above, ashy beneath. 

 Flowers monoecious, axillary, solitary, rather large. Male flower : — peduncle falling short of the 

 petiole ; calyx tube broadly campanulate ; lobes narrowly lanceolate, equalling the tube ; corolla 

 about an inch in diameter, greenish outside and villous ; segments ovate, oblong, obtuse, 5-nerved. 

 Stamens 3, anthers free. Female flowers : — calyx tube fused with the ovary, contracted above, lobes 

 and corolla as in the male ; ovary ovoid, densely villous ; style short ; stigmas 3. Fruit large ovoid, 

 dark green or mottled, sometimes covered with a glaucous waxy bloom ; flesh white yellowish or 

 red. Seeds compressed and usually margined, varying much in shape and colour. 



The water melon is indigenous in the equatorial regions of Africa.^ The fruit of 

 the wild plant may be bitter or sweet without any observable difference externally. 



The well-known fruit yielded by this plant seems to be universally appreciated by 

 the Natives, and is by no means despised by Europeans. Though deficient in flavour it 

 is alwa^'s cool and refreshing. 



It is usually sown in January or February, and the fruit ripens during the early 

 part of the hot season. 



Asa crop it is a somewhat precarious one, being often entirely destroyed by un- 

 timely showers, or by severe hailstorms, which latter are by no means unfrequent during 

 the time when the fruit is ripening. 



Although largely cultivated in these Provinces, statistics are wanting to indicate 

 even approximately the total area it has occupied during past years. 



The following are the areas it has been reported to have occupied in certain dis- 

 tricts during the rainy season of 1881 : — 



Acres. 



Bnlandshahr, ... ..^ 5G 



Jalaun, ... ... ... 48 



Meeiut, ... ... ... 26 



Explanation of Plate LV. 



1 & 2. Male flower, 7 , 



> enlarged. 



3. Female flower. 



Acres. 



Farnkhabad, ... ... 19 



Muttra, ... ... ... 3 



Explanation of Plate LVI. 



1. Fruit, transverse section. 



2. Entire fruit, (reduced |). 



The above are from drawings of living specimens cultivated at Saharanpur. 



* References :— Nand. in Ann. Sc. Nat. Ser. 4 Vol. xii. p. 100 ; Hook. Fi. Ind. ii. 621 ; Atkinson Econom. Prod. 

 N.-W. r. Part V. p. 10 ; Gaz. N.-W. P. Vol. x. p. 701 ; Cogniaux in DC. Mon. Phan. Vol iii. p 508 ; DC. L'Orig PI. Cult. 

 209. Ciicumis Citrulhis, DC. Prod. iii. 301. Cucurbita Citrullus, Linn. ; Roxb. E\. Ind. iii. 719 ; W. & A. Prod. 351 ; 

 Baden-Powell ('unj. Prod. 264. 



t Gaz. N.-W. P. Vol. X. 70L 



J Piddington Index. 



§ DecandoUe I.e. 



