Cucurbits : Botany Cultivation and Utilization

Contents Preface. 1. Introduction and geographic origin of cultivated species. 2. General morphology and anatomy. 3. Taxonomy and cultivars. 4. Cytogenetics and plant breeding. 5. The effect of environmental factors on growth and development. 6. Culture. 7. Seed production. 8. Disease and insect pests. 9. Harvesting transportation storage and marketing. 10. Composition and uses. Bibliography. Conversion factors. Subject index. Author index. The Cucurbitaceae are among the most important plant families that supply man with edible products and useful fibres. The cultivate species of this family are not nearly as significant in man's economy as the cereals or the legumes but in the tropics subtropics and milder portions of the temperate zones of both hemispheres they are crops of more than ordinary importance. For the people of these areas the cultivated Cucurbitaceae have a place in their diet as sources of carbohydrates when cooked (squash pumpkin marrow chayota) as dessert or breakfast fruits (water melon musk melon) as ingredients of salads (cucumber gherkin) or as pickles (cucumber gherkin). There are other minor uses for example the fruits of lagenaria siceraria (White flowered gourd) before the advent of pottery were indispensable to primitive people around the household the rinds of some mature fruits were used for baskets jugs pots and cutlery and the fibrous material of Luffa (dish rag gourd) was used for scouring. This last material has also been used in certain oil filters and for insulation packing and other purposes of this nature. The Cucurbitaceae consist of about ninety genera and 750 species almost equally divided between the New and Old World Tropics. 249 pp.…