Cucurbitacae
A small genus of stove herbs, closely allied to Cucumis. Flowers unisexual, with a persistent five-parted calyx and corolla. Fruit a manyseeded gourd. For culture, &c., see Cucumis.
C. Colocynthis (Colocynth, the classical name of the plant). Bitter Apple; Bitter Cucumber. fl. light yellow, solitary. fr. globose, rarely 3in. in diameter intensely bitter, smooth, variegated green and white. l. deeply divided 2 1/2in. by scarcely 2in., ovate; middle segment compound-pinnatifid. Whole plant scabrid. India. Perennial. (B. M. Pl. 114.) SYN. Cucumis Colocynthis.
C. vulgaria (common).* Water Melon. fl. yellow. fr. often 10in. in diameter, sometimes much smaller, sweet or bitter. l. deeply divided, or but moderately lobed, glabrous or somewhat hairy, hardly scabrid. India. "Said to be annual, while C. Colocynthis is perennial; but the distinction between the cultivated form of C. Colocynthis and the divided-leaved forms of the Water Melon. is very small." SYNS. Cucumis and Cucurbita Citrullus.