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Wild flowers of the north-eastern states

Chapter 28: GOURD FAMILY. CUCURBITACEÆ.
By Ellen Miller
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Nature/Gardening/Animals

About This Book

This illustrated manual gathers 308 common wildflowers of the northeastern United States, each drawn life-size and accompanied by plain-language descriptions emphasizing habit, color, and growth rather than technical dissection. Organized by floral families in the sequence of Gray's Manual and arranged for seasonal bloom, entries include leaves, stems, and often whole growth, with occasional shrubs, vines, and fruit shown where notable. Aimed at amateur naturalists, it favors recognizable traits and folk names to ease identification, offers practical notes on variations and habitat, and pairs accurate botanical classification with accessible, pictorial presentation.

GOURD FAMILY.
CUCURBITACEÆ.

One-seeded Bur-cucumber.Sicyos angulatus.
One-seeded Star-cucumber.

Found in blossom from July to September, on moist ground, and along river banks.

A vine, with a coarse, rough stem, climbing by aid of little spirally twisted tendrils.

The broad leaf is more or less 5-pointed, or lobed, with a heart-shaped base, and a long tapering tip; the surface is roughened by small hairs, and the texture is loose and coarse; it has a short foot-stem, and is bright green.

The small 5-pointed flowers are of two kinds; the stamen-bearing ones, in clusters of 4 or 5 on a long foot-stem, spring from the angles of the leaves, while the seed-bearing blossoms are in almost stemless clusters close in the angles: they are greenish white, with yellow stamens.

A single large seed is enclosed in a flattened, pointed pod, which is armed with many fine, tough, bristles, that are easily detached in plucking and are irritating to the skin. The vine has a great number of tendrils.