^ebrua?vPi92imi      Cassabct  and  H onef  D ]ewMelons .  105 
investigation  into  their  origin,  history,  structure  and  chemical  con- 
stitution. 
Both  of  these  melons  undoubtedly  belong  to  the  group  which 
Bailey  in  his  ''Standard  Cyclopedia  of  Horticulture"  calls  -the 
Inodorous  variety  of  Cucumis  mclo. 
Cucumis  melo,  the  progenitor  of  these  forms,  is  a  rough,  hairy, 
annual  herb  which  like  many  other  plants  of  the  gourd  family  is 
capable  of  clinging  to  supports  and  climbing,  through  the  posses- 
sion of  tendril-bearing  stems.  The  leaves  are  subcordate  and 
palmately-lobed,  the  lobes  being  irregularly  toothed.  They  arise 
from  the  stems  in  about  the  same  plane  as  the  tendrils.  Both 
Fig.  1.  End  view  of  Cassaba  and  Honey  Dew  Melons.  Cassaba  to  left.  Honey  Dew 
to  right. 
staminate  and  pistillate  flowers  are  borne  on  the  same  plant,  usually, 
but  in  some  forms  hermaphrodite  flowers  also  occur.  In  all  cases 
the  flowers  are  axillary.  The  calyx  is  campanulate  with  a  5-toothed 
limb.  The  corolla  is  campanulate,  5-lobed,  with  lobes  somewhat 
fringed.  The  3  stamens  with  short,  thick  filaments  are  inserted 
at  the  base  of  the  corolla.  The  gynoecium  is  composed  of  three 
syncarpous  carpels,  the  ovarian  portion  being  inferior  and  3  celled, 
the  style  short  and  3-fid.  The  ovules  are  numerous,  several- 
seriate,  horizontal  and  anatropus.  The  fruit  is  a  pepo  with  numer- 
ous horizontal,  compressed  and  ex-albuminous  seeds. 
According  to  Naudin,1  who  carried  on  investigation  and  ex- 
periments with  about  2000  living  plants,  this  species  possesses  an 
extraordinary  number  of  varieties  and  breeds.  The  varieties,  more- 
over, can  be  fertilized  by  each  other  and  yield  varied  and  variable 
