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10. Cucurbita maxima Duchesne in Lamk. Encycl. Meth. 2: 151 1786 (Fig. 168).
Cucurbita sulcata Blanco.
CUCURBITACEAE
Engl. Melon Pumpkin, Red Gourd, Squash Gourd; Sinh. Kumbala, Ratalabu,
Wattakka; Tarn. Pushini; Hindi Kadu, Mithakaddu; Sans. Dangari. Gramya. Gudayogaphala.
Kushmanda, Pitakushmanda, Pitaphala, Pitapushpa.
A large, climbing or prostate, annual, hispid herb, tendrils 4-fid; leaves simple,
alternate, large 15—30 cm long, a little broader, orbicular in outline, cordate with very deep
sinus, faintly 5-lobed, hairy, shallowly serrate; petioles about 20 cm long, hispid; flowers
regular, large, yellow, about 12 cm long, monoecious, peduncles longer in male flowers; male
flowers: calyx campanulas at base, segments 5, linear; corolla campanulate, 5-lobed with crinkly
revolute lobes; stamens 3, inserted low in the calyx-tube, anthers connate, one 1 -celled, 2 two—
celled, cells conduplicate; female flowers: calyx and corolla almost the same as in the male flower
with the sepals larger and more foliar; ovary inferior, oblong, about 5 cm long, glabrous,
unilocular with 3 parietal placentas, style short, stigmas 3, bifid, ovules many, horizontal;
fruit large, fleshy, indehiscent; seeds ovoid, compressed, margined.
Flowers almost throughout the year.
Illustrations. Kirtikar and Basu. Indian Med. Plants,/?/. 462S. 1933; Herb. Peradeniya.,
drawing.
Distribution. Cultivated throughout India, Ceylon and in most regions of the world.
In Ceylon, it grows best in the dry zone especially after the rains.
Composition. The fruit contains fat, protein, pentosan, vitamin A, sugar, two pigments
cucurbitene and cucurbitaxanthin. niacin, riboflavine and aneurin. The young shoots are good
sources of calcium, iron, phosphorus, vitamin B and also contain hydrocyanic acid and
ascorbic acid oxalate. The seeds contain a fixed oil, saponin, a protein called cdestin and an
active principle.
Uses. In India, the pulp of the fruit is used as a poultice for boils, carbuncles
and ulcers. The dried pulp is a remedy for haemoptysis and haemorrhages from the
pulmonary organs. The fruit stalk in immediate contact with the ripe gourd made into a paste
with water is a specific for insect and centipede bites. The seeds are employed as a vermifuge.
They may be given with sugar for tapeworm. As a diuretic, they are given for gonorrhoea and
urinary diseases. The oil from the seeds is used as a nervine tonic. In tropical Africa, the seeds
are given as a roundworm remedy, while in Guinea the pulp of the fruit is applied to burns, scalds,
inflammations, abscesses and boils. The young shoots, flowers and the mature fruits are often
used as vegetables.
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