CUCl'llBlTACEiE. 
141 
thick : stigma subcapitate, 3-5-cleft. Pepo ob- 
cordate, one-seedcd 5 seed ovate, plane, com- 
pressed. 
Name from to fatten in a stall : the fruit having 
the reputation oi 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-suleated gibbous at the apex 
piloso-echinated. 
Sechium foliis cordato-angulatis, racemis minoribus ad 
alas, Browne, 355. — Sicyos edulis, Swartz, Prod. 116. — 
Sechium edule, Swartz, Ft. Lid. Occ. 1150. 
II A B. 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. 
