Gourd.
Cucurbita.
A large plant, of the melon or cucumber kind, kept in gardens. The stalks are ten or twelve feet long, thick, angular, rough, and hairy, but unable to support themselves upright: they trail upon the ground or climb upon other things. The leaves are very large and broad, indented deeply, rough, of a blackish green, The flowers are large, and bell-fashioned, white and downy on the inside, and not altogether smooth on the outer surface.
The fruit is large, and has a hard, firm shell on the outside, and is fleshy and juicy within, with seeds in the manner of the melons; these are flat, of an oblong shape, and hard.
These seeds are the only part used: they are cooling and diuretic. They have this virtue in much the same degree with cucumber and melon seeds, and are given with them in emulsions.
