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Cucurbitaceae
 
 
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Cucurbitaceae is a plant
Plant

Plants are Life organisms belonging to the Kingdom Plantae. They include familiar organisms such as trees, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae....
 family
Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is a taxonomic rank. Exact details of formal nomenclature depend on the Nomenclature Codes which applies....
 commonly known as melons, gourd
Gourd

A gourd is a plant of the family Cucurbitaceae, or a name given to the hollow, dried shell of a fruit in the Cucurbitaceae family of plants of the genus Lagenaria....
s or cucurbits and includes crops like cucumber
Cucumber

The cucumber is a widely cultivated plant in the gourd family Cucurbitaceae, which includes squash , and in the same genus as the muskmelon....
s, squashes (including pumpkins), luffa
Luffa

The Luffa or Loofah/Lufah are tropical and subtropical vines comprising the genus Luffa. The fruit of at least two species, Luffa acutangula and Luffa aegyptiaca, is grown to be harvested before maturity and eaten as a vegetable, popular in Asia and Africa....
s, melon
Melon

Melon is a name given to various members of the Cucurbitaceae family with fleshy fruit. Melon can refer to either the plant or the fruit, which is a Epigynous berry....
s and watermelons. The family is predominantly distributed around the tropics, where those with edible fruits were amongst the earliest cultivated plants in both the Old and New Worlds.

Most of the plants in this family are annual
Annual plant

An annual plant is a plant that usually germinates flowers and dies in one year. True annuals will only live longer than a year if they are prevented from setting seed....
 vine
Vine

A vine is any plant of genus Grape or, by extension, any similar climbing or trailing plant. The word, derived from Latin vinea, referred to the grape-bearing variety....
s but there are also woody liana
Liana

The liana is any of various long-stemmed, usually woody vines that are rooted in the soil at ground level and use trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the canopy in order to get access to well-lit areas of the forest....
s, thorny shrubs, and trees (Dendrosicyos).






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Encyclopedia


Cucurbitaceae is a plant
Plant

Plants are Life organisms belonging to the Kingdom Plantae. They include familiar organisms such as trees, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae....
 family
Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is a taxonomic rank. Exact details of formal nomenclature depend on the Nomenclature Codes which applies....
 commonly known as melons, gourd
Gourd

A gourd is a plant of the family Cucurbitaceae, or a name given to the hollow, dried shell of a fruit in the Cucurbitaceae family of plants of the genus Lagenaria....
s or cucurbits and includes crops like cucumber
Cucumber

The cucumber is a widely cultivated plant in the gourd family Cucurbitaceae, which includes squash , and in the same genus as the muskmelon....
s, squashes (including pumpkins), luffa
Luffa

The Luffa or Loofah/Lufah are tropical and subtropical vines comprising the genus Luffa. The fruit of at least two species, Luffa acutangula and Luffa aegyptiaca, is grown to be harvested before maturity and eaten as a vegetable, popular in Asia and Africa....
s, melon
Melon

Melon is a name given to various members of the Cucurbitaceae family with fleshy fruit. Melon can refer to either the plant or the fruit, which is a Epigynous berry....
s and watermelons. The family is predominantly distributed around the tropics, where those with edible fruits were amongst the earliest cultivated plants in both the Old and New Worlds.

Most of the plants in this family are annual
Annual plant

An annual plant is a plant that usually germinates flowers and dies in one year. True annuals will only live longer than a year if they are prevented from setting seed....
 vine
Vine

A vine is any plant of genus Grape or, by extension, any similar climbing or trailing plant. The word, derived from Latin vinea, referred to the grape-bearing variety....
s but there are also woody liana
Liana

The liana is any of various long-stemmed, usually woody vines that are rooted in the soil at ground level and use trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the canopy in order to get access to well-lit areas of the forest....
s, thorny shrubs, and trees (Dendrosicyos). Many species have large, yellow or white flowers. The stems are hairy and pentangular. Tendril
Tendril

In botany, a tendril is a specialized Plant stem, leaf or Petiole with a threadlike shape that is used by climbing plants for support and attachment, generally by twining around whatever it touches....
s are present at 90° to the leaf petioles at nodes. Leaves are exstipulate alternate simple palmately
Leaf shape

In botany, the following terms are used to describe the shape of plant leaf:* Acicular : Slender and pointed, needle-like* Acuminate : Tapering to a long point...
 lobed or palmately compound. The flowers are unisexual, with male and female flowers usually on different plants (dioecious), or less common on the same plant (monoecious). The female flowers have inferior ovaries
Ovary (plants)

In the flowering plants, an ovary is a part of the female reproductive organ of the flower or gynoecium. Specifically, it is the part of the carpel which holds the ovule and is located above or below or at the point of connection with the base of the petals and sepals....
. The fruit is often a kind of berry
Berry

In everyday English, a berry is a broad term for any small edible fruit. Most berries are juicy, round or semi-oblong, brightly coloured, sweet or sour, and don't have a stone or pit....
 called a pepo.

Classification

There are about 125 extant genera in Cucurbitaceae, including 825 species. The following is the classification as given by Charles Jeffrey as of 1990.

Subfamily Zanonioideae (small striate pollen grains)
  • Tribe Zanonieae
    • Subtribe Fevilleinae: Fevillea
      Fevillea

      Fevillea is a genus of the plant family Cucurbitaceae, the cucumber, Squash , and pumpkin family. Some references suggest that there is only one member of this genus, Fevillea cordofolia ....
    • Subtribe Zanoniinae: Alsomitra Zanonia Siolmatra Gerrardanthus Zygosicyos Xerosicyos
      Xerosicyos

      Xerosicyos is a flowering plant genus of the family Cucurbitaceae. Its name comes from Greek language xeros and sicyos . They are lianas with succulent leaves....
       Neoalsomitra
    • Subtribe Gomphogyninae: Hemsleya Gomphogyne Gynostemma
    • Subtribe Actinostemmatinae: Bolbostemma Actinostemma
    • Subtribe Sicydiinae: Sicydium Chalema Pteropepon Pseudosicydium Cyclantheropsis


Subfamily Cucurbitoideae (styles united into a single column)
  • Tribe Melothrieae
    • Subtribe Dendrosicyinae: Kedrostis Dendrosicyos Corallocarpus Ibervillea Tumamoca Halosicyos Ceratosanthes Doyerea Trochomeriopsis Seyrigia Dieterlea Cucurbitella Apodanthera Guraniopsis Melothrianthus Wilbrandia
    • Subtribe Guraniinae: Helmontia Psiguria Gurania
    • Subtribe Cucumerinae: Melancium Cucumeropsis Posadaea Melothria Muellarargia Zehneria Cucumis
      Cucumis

      Cucumis is a genus of vine, tendril-bearing plants in the Cucurbitaceae family which includes the cucumber, true melons, the horned melon, and Cucumis anguria, the West Indian gherkin....
       (including: Mukia
      Mukia

      Mukia may refer to*an animal genus in the family Crambidae*a plant genus in the family Cucurbitaceae...
      , Dicaelospermum, Cucumella, Oreosyce, and Myrmecosicyos ).
    • Subtribe Trochomeriinae: Solena Trochomeria Dactyliandra Ctenolepsis
  • Tribe Schizopeponeae: Schizopepon
  • Tribe Joliffieae
    • Subtribe Thladianthinae: Indofevillea Siraitia Thladiantha Momordica
      Momordica

      Momordica is a genus of about 45 species of annual or perennial climbing herbaceous or shrubby plants belonging to the family Cucurbitaceae, natives of tropical and subtropical Africa and Asia and Australia....
    • Subtribe Telfairiinae: Telfaria
  • Tribe Trichosantheae
    • Subtribe Hodgsoniinae: Hodgsonia
      Hodgsonia

      Hodgsonia is a small genus of fruit-bearing vines in the family Cucurbitaceae.Hodgsonia was named for Brian Houghton Hodgson in 1853 by British botanists Joseph Dalton Hooker and Thomas Thomson , who examined the plant under Hodgson's hospitality in the Himalaya....
    • Subtribe Ampelosicyinae: Ampelosicyos Peponium
    • Subtribe Trichosanthinae: Gymnopetalum Trichosanthes
      Trichosanthes

      Trichosanthes is a genus of tropical and subtropical vines.The shoots, tendrils, and leaf of some or possibly all species may be eaten as leaf vegetable, and at least two species are raised for their fleshy fruits used as vegetables, most popular in South Asia and Southeast Asia....
       Tricyclandra
    • Subtribe Herpetosperminae: Cephalopentandra Biswarea Herpetospermum Edgaria
  • Tribe Benincaseae
    • Subtribe Benincasinae: Cogniauxia Ruthalicia Lagenaria
      Lagenaria

      Lagenaria is a genus of gourd bearing vines from the family Cucurbitaceae, also known as the "Squash" family. It contains at least seven species, one of which is known as the Calabash ....
       Benincasa Praecitrullus Citrullus
      Citrullus

      Citrullus is a small genus of desert vines, among which Citrullus lanatus is an important crop....
       Acanthosicyos
      Acanthosicyos

      Acanthosicyos is a genus of the botany family Cucurbitaceae, subfamily Cucurbitoideae. Endemic to the Namib Desert in Africa, this genus is represented by two known species including Acanthosicyos horridus, the nara melon....
       Eureiandra
      Eureiandra

      Eureiandra is a genus of plant in family Cucurbitaceae.Species include:* Eureiandra balfourii, Alfred Cogniaux...
       Bambekea Nothoalsomitra
      Nothoalsomitra

      Nothoalsomitra Telford is a monotypic genus subtropical vines in the family Curcubitaceae. Presently there is one described species *'N. suberosa' I.Telford from Australia is a vigorous climber with pale corky bark and leaves divided into three triangular leaflets....
       Coccinia
      Coccinia

      The Scarlet gourds is a genus with about 30 species. It is distributed in sub-Saharan Africa and with one species in South and Southeast Asia that is also introduced into the New World....
       Diplocyclos Raphidiocystis Lemurosicyos Zombitsia Ecballium Bryonia
    • Subtribe Luffinae: Luffa
      Luffa

      The Luffa or Loofah/Lufah are tropical and subtropical vines comprising the genus Luffa. The fruit of at least two species, Luffa acutangula and Luffa aegyptiaca, is grown to be harvested before maturity and eaten as a vegetable, popular in Asia and Africa....
  • Tribe Cucurbiteae (pantoporate, spiny pollen): Cucurbita
    Cucurbita

    Cucurbita is a genus in the gourd family Cucurbitaceae first cultivated in the Americas and now used in many parts of the world. It includes species grown for their fruit and edible seeds , as well as some species grown only as gourds....
     Sicana Tecunumania Calycophysum Peponopsis Anacaona Polyclathra Schizocarpum Penelopeia Cionosicyos Cayaponia Selysia Abobra
    Abobra

    Abobra is a genus of Cucurbitaceae family, consists of only one species Abobra tenuifolia , native to South America, sometimes cultivated as ornamental plants and also for its edible fruits, it is known as cranberry gourd....
  • Tribe Sicyeae (trichomatous nectary, 4- to 10-colporate pollen grains)
    • Subtribe Cyclantherinae: Hanburia Echinopepon Marah Echinocystis Vaseyanthus Brandegea
      Brandegea

      Brandegea is a monotypic genus containing the single species Brandegea bigelovii, the desert starvine. This sprawling perennial vine in the Curcurbitaceae is native to the deserts of California, Arizona, and northern Mexico....
       Apatzingania Cremastopus Elateriopsis Pseudocyclanthera Cyclanthera Rytidostylis
    • Subtribe Sicyinae: Sicyos
      Sicyos

      Sicyos is a flowering plant genus of the family Cucurbitaceae....
       Sicyosperma Parasicyos Microsechium Sechium
      Sechium

      Sechium is a genus in subtribe Sicyinea of the tribe Sicyeae of the gourd family Cucurbitaceae....
       Sechiopsis Pterosicyos
  • incertae sedis
    Incertae sedis

    Incertae sedis , abbreviation "inc. sed.", is a term used to define a taxonomy group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined....
    : Odosicyos


Alphabetical list of genera: Abobra
Abobra

Abobra is a genus of Cucurbitaceae family, consists of only one species Abobra tenuifolia , native to South America, sometimes cultivated as ornamental plants and also for its edible fruits, it is known as cranberry gourd....
 Acanthosicyos
Acanthosicyos

Acanthosicyos is a genus of the botany family Cucurbitaceae, subfamily Cucurbitoideae. Endemic to the Namib Desert in Africa, this genus is represented by two known species including Acanthosicyos horridus, the nara melon....
 Actinostemma Alsomitra Ampelosycios Anacaona Apatzingania Apodanthera Bambekea Benincasa Biswarea Bolbostemma Brandegea
Brandegea

Brandegea is a monotypic genus containing the single species Brandegea bigelovii, the desert starvine. This sprawling perennial vine in the Curcurbitaceae is native to the deserts of California, Arizona, and northern Mexico....
 Bryonia Calycophysum Cayaponia Cephalopentandra Ceratosanthes Chalema Cionosicyos Citrullus
Citrullus

Citrullus is a small genus of desert vines, among which Citrullus lanatus is an important crop....
 Coccinia
Coccinia

The Scarlet gourds is a genus with about 30 species. It is distributed in sub-Saharan Africa and with one species in South and Southeast Asia that is also introduced into the New World....
 Cogniauxia Corallocarpus Cremastopus Ctenolepis Cucumella Cucumeropsis Cucumis
Cucumis

Cucumis is a genus of vine, tendril-bearing plants in the Cucurbitaceae family which includes the cucumber, true melons, the horned melon, and Cucumis anguria, the West Indian gherkin....
 Cucurbita
Cucurbita

Cucurbita is a genus in the gourd family Cucurbitaceae first cultivated in the Americas and now used in many parts of the world. It includes species grown for their fruit and edible seeds , as well as some species grown only as gourds....
 Cucurbitella Cyclanthera Dactyliandra Dendrosicyos Dicaelospermum Dieterlea Diplocyclos Doyerea Ecballium Echinocystis Echinopepon Edgaria Elateriopsis Eureiandra
Eureiandra

Eureiandra is a genus of plant in family Cucurbitaceae.Species include:* Eureiandra balfourii, Alfred Cogniaux...
 Fevillea
Fevillea

Fevillea is a genus of the plant family Cucurbitaceae, the cucumber, Squash , and pumpkin family. Some references suggest that there is only one member of this genus, Fevillea cordofolia ....
 Gerrardanthus Gomphogyne Gurania Guraniopsis Gymnopetalum Gynostemma Halosicyos Hanburia Helmontia Hemsleya Herpetospermum Hodgsonia
Hodgsonia

Hodgsonia is a small genus of fruit-bearing vines in the family Cucurbitaceae.Hodgsonia was named for Brian Houghton Hodgson in 1853 by British botanists Joseph Dalton Hooker and Thomas Thomson , who examined the plant under Hodgson's hospitality in the Himalaya....
 Ibervillea Indofevillea Kedrostis Lagenaria
Lagenaria

Lagenaria is a genus of gourd bearing vines from the family Cucurbitaceae, also known as the "Squash" family. It contains at least seven species, one of which is known as the Calabash ....
 Lemurosicyos Luffa
Luffa

The Luffa or Loofah/Lufah are tropical and subtropical vines comprising the genus Luffa. The fruit of at least two species, Luffa acutangula and Luffa aegyptiaca, is grown to be harvested before maturity and eaten as a vegetable, popular in Asia and Africa....
 Marah Melancium Melothria Melothrianthus Microsechium Momordica
Momordica

Momordica is a genus of about 45 species of annual or perennial climbing herbaceous or shrubby plants belonging to the family Cucurbitaceae, natives of tropical and subtropical Africa and Asia and Australia....
 Muellerargia Mukia
Mukia

Mukia may refer to*an animal genus in the family Crambidae*a plant genus in the family Cucurbitaceae...
 Myrmecosicyos Neoalsomitra Nothoalsomitra
Nothoalsomitra

Nothoalsomitra Telford is a monotypic genus subtropical vines in the family Curcubitaceae. Presently there is one described species *'N. suberosa' I.Telford from Australia is a vigorous climber with pale corky bark and leaves divided into three triangular leaflets....
 Odosicyos Oreosyce Parasicyos Penelopeia Peponium Peponopsis Polyclathra Posadaea Praecitrullus Pseudocyclanthera Pseudosicydium Psiguria Pteropepon Pterosicyos Raphidiocystis Ruthalicia Rytidostylis Schizocarpum Schizopepon Sechiopsis Sechium
Sechium

Sechium is a genus in subtribe Sicyinea of the tribe Sicyeae of the gourd family Cucurbitaceae....
 Selysia Seyrigia Sicana Sicydium Sicyos
Sicyos

Sicyos is a flowering plant genus of the family Cucurbitaceae....
 Sicyosperma Siolmatra Siraitia Solena Tecunumania Telfairia
Telfairia

Telfairia is a small genus of flowering plants in the Cucurbitaceae which are native to Africa. They include Telfairia occidentalis, the fluted pumpkin, which is an important vegetable in Nigeria and other African nations....
 Thladiantha Trichosanthes
Trichosanthes

Trichosanthes is a genus of tropical and subtropical vines.The shoots, tendrils, and leaf of some or possibly all species may be eaten as leaf vegetable, and at least two species are raised for their fleshy fruits used as vegetables, most popular in South Asia and Southeast Asia....
 Tricyclandra Trochomeria Trochomeriopsis Tumacoca Vaseyanthus Wilbrandia Xerosicyos
Xerosicyos

Xerosicyos is a flowering plant genus of the family Cucurbitaceae. Its name comes from Greek language xeros and sicyos . They are lianas with succulent leaves....
 Zanonia Zehneria Zombitsia Zygosicyos Ref: 3 September 2002

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