174 



ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



79. P. edulis Sims. The violet-blue or purple fruit, the 

 size of a small hen's egg, is very abundantly produced and 

 esteemed in Madeira for its orange-coloured pulp with an orange- 

 and raspberry-like flavour. It does not occur in the Canaries, 

 but I once met with it on the north side of Pogo in the Cape 

 Verdes. 



80. P. Lowei Heer. This is the best of the three Madeiran 

 Passion-fruits, and would be a real acquisition anywhere to 

 the dessert. The fruit, the size of a duck's egg, is of an orange 

 yellow, the pulp being, as in P. quadrangular is L., greenish white 

 like that of a gooseberry. Though I first received in Madeira the 

 seeds from Tenerife (see PI. Mad. p. 296), it no longer exists in 

 the Canaries, and is not found in the Cape Yerdes. 



CUCURBITACE^:. 



81. CuCURbita moschata Duch. This G-ourd or Pumpkin, in 

 one or other of its various forms, is largely cultivated in each of 

 the three groups of islands, but it attains by no means in any of 

 them the excellence it possesses in Madeira (see Mad. PL p. 283). 

 The long clavate-fruited variety is perhaps the commonest in the 

 Cape Yerdes. 



82. C. Pepo Ser. Not uncommon in Madeira, but not observed 

 in the Canaries or Cape Yerdes. 



83. C. melanosperma Braun. Universally cultivated in 

 Madeira under the name of " Boganga," and in the Canaries, 

 where it is called " Pantana " (see Mad. PI. p. 289). I never met 

 with it at all in the Cape Yerdes. 



84. Lagenaria vulgaris Ser. The Bottle-gourd is not un- 

 frequently grown in Madeira, but occurs only rarely in the 

 Canaries and Cape Yerdes. 



85. Cucumis sativus L. Cucumbers abound in Madeira, and 

 are only comparatively rare in the Canaries and Cape Yerdes. 



86. C. Melo L. Melons are good but cannot be called 

 common in Madeira. They are still more rare in the Canaries 

 and Cape Yerdes. 



87. C. Citrullus (L.). Water-melons (both red- and white- 

 fleshed) are occasionally cultivated, but not frequently or success- 

 fully in any one of the three groups of islands. 



The seeds of all the foregoing Cucurbitaceae are sown in wide 

 shallow trenches in the open air, like those of Gherkin Cucum- 

 bers in England, and the plants left to spread along the ground or 

 trained on trellises. 



