Cucurbitaceae Family

Introduction

Any of various mostly climbing or trailing plants of the family Cucurbitaceae, which includes the squash, pumpkin, cucumber, gourd, watermelon, and cantaloupe. A gourd-shaped flask forming the body of an alembic, formerly used in distillation.Cucurbitaceae or cucurbit family is a medium-sized plant family, primarily found in the warmer regions of the world. It is a major family for economically important species, particularly those with edible fruits.

Scientific classification

Kingdom:Plantae

Division:Magnoliophyta

Class:Magnoliopsida

Order Type: Eudicots-Rosids I

Order:Cucurbitales

Family:Cucurbitaceae

Family Common Name:Gourd Family

Genera: Cucurbita

Morphology:

Inflorescences are determinate, axillary and sometimes reduced to a solitary flower. Flower usually yellow, unisexual with campanulate corolla and hypantium. The plants are monoecious or dioecious. Ovaries are inferior or half-inferior with parietal placentation. Fruit and Seed Features: Dicotyledon. Fruits is a berry, pepo or a capsule. Seeds are more or less flattened. As herbaceous tendril-bearing vines. Leaves are alternate, entire or palmately lobed with palmate venation. Leaves often hairy and rough.All species are sensitive to frost. Most of the plants in this family are annualvines but there are also woody lianas, thorny shrubs, and trees (Dendrosicyos). Many species have large, yellow or white flowers. The stems are hairy and pentangular. Tendrils are present at 90° to the leaf petioles at nodes. Leaves are exstipulate alternate simple palmately lobed or palmately compound. The flowers are unisexual, with male and female flowers on different plants (dioecious) or on the same plant (monoecious). The female flowers have inferior ovaries.

The Cucurbitaceae are a plant family, sometimes called the gourd family, consisting of over a hundred genera, the most important of which are:

• Cucurbita – squash, pumpkin, zucchini, some gourds
• Lagenaria – mostly non-edible gourds
• Citrullus – watermelon (Citrulluslanatus) and others
• Cucumis – cucumber (Cucumissativus), various melons
• Luffa – common name also luffa

The Cucurbitaceae family ranks among the highest of plant families for number and percentage of species used as human food.The Cucurbitaceae consist of approximately 125 genera and 960 species, mainly in regions tropical and subtropical. The fruit is often a kind of modified berry called a pepo.

Distribution:Pantropical and subtropical; a few representatives in temperate to cooler climates.

Botanical classification

Common name or representative type	Scientific name	Horticultural Group
Wax gourd (white pumpkin, ash gourd)	Benincasahispida
Watermelon	Citrulluslanatus
Citron (preserving melon	Citrulluslanatusvar. citroides	Citroides
Asian pickling melon	Cucumismelo var. conomon	Conomon
Mango melon, Lemon melon, Vine peach	Cucumismelovar. chito	Chito
Pocket melon, Plum granny, Dudaim melon	Cucumismelo var. dudaim	Dudaim
Snake melon (Armenian cucumber)	Cucumismelovar. flexuosus	Flexuosus
Winter melon (Casaba, Crenshaw, Honeydew)	Cucumismelo var. inodorus	Inodorus
Muskmelon	Cucumismelovar. reticulatus	Reticulatus
Cucumber	Cucumissativus
Buffalo Gourd	Cucurbitafoetidissima
Squash – winter varieties	Cucurbita maxima
Gourd, angled luffa	Luffaacutangula
Gourd, smooth luffa (sponge gourd	Luffaaegyptiaca
Casabanana	Sicanaodorifera
Gourd, serpent	Trichosanthesanguina