A large family, chiefly of the tropics, climbing or trailing,
herbaceous vines, usually with tendrils, rather juicy, with no
stipules; leaves alternate, with leaf-stalks, usually lobed or cut;
flowers some staminate and some pistillate; calyx bell-shaped or
tubular, usually five-lobed; petals mostly united, usually five, on the
calyx; stamens generally three, with short filaments, often united;
ovary inferior; fruit fleshy, often with a hard rind, usually with flat
seeds.
There are many kinds of Micrampelis, natives of America.
[Sidenote: =Chilicothe, Wild Cucumber=
_Micrámpelis fabàcea (Echinocystis)_
=White
Summer
California=]
A graceful, decorative vine, with many tendrils and spreading to a
great distance, sometimes as much as thirty feet, partly climbing over
bushes and partly on the ground, springing from an enormous bitter root
as large as a man's body, the leaves slightly rough. The pretty little
flowers are half an inch across, the calyx with small teeth or with
none and the corolla cream-white, with from five to seven lobes; the
staminate flowers in loose clusters and the pistillate ones single. The
fruit is peculiar and conspicuous, a big green ball, very prickly and
measuring two inches across. The Indians used to make hair-oil out of
the seeds. This is also called Big-root and Man-in-the-ground.
There are several kinds of Cucurbita, natives of America, Asia, and
Africa. This is the Latin name for the Gourd.
[Sidenote: =Calabazilla, Gourd=
_Cucúrbita foetidíssima_
=Yellow
Spring
Southwest, etc.=]
This is a near relation of the common Pumpkin and Squash and resembles
them. It is an exceedingly coarse, but very decorative vine, with
bristly stems, trailing on the ground and sometimes twenty-five feet
long. The leaves are about eight inches long, bluish-gray, thick and
velvety, covered with bristles and exceedingly unpleasant to touch but
handsome in appearance. The gaudy flowers measure five or six inches
across, with a bristly calyx and bell-shaped, orange-yellow corolla.
The root is enormous, sometimes six feet long, the fruit is a smooth,
yellow gourd, and the whole plant has a horrible smell. This is found
in dry soil, from Nebraska west, and is common in southern California.
[Illustration: Chilicothe--Micrampelis fabacea.]