Cucurbitaceae

File:Flower of Lagenaria captured at night.jpg

Most of the plants in this family are annual vines, but some are woody lianas, thorny shrubs, or 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 fruit is often a kind of modified berry called a pepo.{{R|SCHAEFER}}{{rp|2}}

One of the oldest fossil cucurbits so far is †Cucurbitaciphyllum lobatum from the Paleocene epoch, found at Shirley Canal, Montana. It was described for the first time in 1924 by the paleobotanist Frank Hall Knowlton. The fossil leaf is palmate, trilobed with rounded lobal sinuses and an entire or serrate margin. It has a leaf pattern similar to the members of the genera Kedrostis, Melothria and Zehneria.Revisions to Roland Brown's North American Paleocene Flora by Steven R. Manchester at Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA. Published in Acta Musei Nationalis Pragae, Series B – Historia Naturalis, vol. 70, 2014, no. 3-4, pp. 153–210.

File:Cucurbitaceae 2.jpg and squashes displayed in a show competition]]

File:Cucurbits (Cucurbitaceae).jpg Genebank in Suwon]]

File:2016-11-10 Cucurbits (Cucurbitaceae) Madrid Botanico.jpg, with the title "Variedades de calabaza" include gourds and edible species of Cucurbita and Lagenaria.]]

The most recent classification of Cucurbitaceae delineates 15 tribes:{{cite journal |vauthors=Schaefer H, Renner SS |year=2011 |title=Phylogenetic relationships in the order Cucurbitales and a new classification of the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae) |journal=Taxon |volume=60 |issue=1 |pages=122–138 |doi=10.1002/tax.601011 |jstor=41059827 }}{{cite journal |vauthors=Schaefer H, Kocyan A, Renner SS |year=2007 |title=Phylogenetics of Cucumis (Cucurbitaceae): Cucumber (C. sativus) belongs in an Asian/Australian clade far from melon (C. melo) |journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=58–69 |doi=10.1186/1471-2148-7-58 |pmid=17425784 |pmc=3225884 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2007BMCEE...7...58R }}

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• Tribe Gomphogyneae Benth. & Hook.f.
• Alsomitra (Blume) Spach (1 sp.)
• Bayabusua (1 sp.)
• Gomphogyne Griff. (2 spp.)
• Gynostemma Blume (10 spp.)
• Hemsleya Cogn. ex F.B.Forbes & Hemsl. (30 spp.)
• Neoalsomitra Hutch. (12 spp.)
• Tribe Triceratieae A.Rich.
• Cyclantheropsis Harms (3 spp.)
• Fevillea L. (8 spp.)
• Pteropepon (Cogn.) Cogn. (5 spp.)
• Sicydium Schltdl. (9 spp.)
• Tribe Zanonieae Benth. & Hook.f.
• Gerrardanthus Harvey in Hook.f. (3–5 spp.)
• Siolmatra Baill. (1 sp.)
• Xerosicyos Humbert (5 spp.)
• Zanonia L. (1 sp.)
• Tribe Actinostemmateae H.Schaef. & S.S.Renner
• Actinostemma Griff. (3 spp.)
• Bolbostemma {{small|Franquet}} (2 spp.)
• Tribe Indofevilleeae H.Schaef. & S.S.Renner
• Indofevillea Chatterjee (2 sp.)
• Tribe Thladiantheae H.Schaef. & S.S.Renner
• Baijiania A.M.Lu & J.Q.Li (30 spp.)
• Sinobaijiania {{small|C.Jeffrey & W.J.de Wilde}} (5 spp.)
• Thladiantha Bunge 1833 (5 spp.)
• Tribe Siraitieae H. Schaef. & S.S. Renner
• Siraitia Merr. (3–4 spp.)
• Tribe Momordiceae H.Schaef. & S.S.Renner
• Momordica L. (60 spp.)
• Tribe Joliffieae Schrad.
• Ampelosicyos Thouars (5 spp.)
• Cogniauxia Baill. (2 spp.)
• Telfairia Hook. (3 spp.)
• Tribe Bryonieae Dumort.
• Austrobryonia H.Schaef. (4 spp.)
• Bryonia L. (10 spp.)
• Ecballium A.Rich. (1 sp.)
• Tribe Schizopeponeae C.Jeffrey
• Herpetospermum Wall. ex Hook.f. (3 spp.)
• Schizopepon Maxim. (6–8 spp.)
• Tribe Sicyoeae Schrad.
• Brandegea Cogn. (1 sp.)
• Cyclanthera Schrad. (40 spp.)
• Echinocystis Torr. & A.Gray (1 sp.)
• Echinopepon Naudin (19 spp.)
• Hanburia Seem. (7 spp.)
• Hodgsonia Hook.f. & Thomson (2 spp.)
• Linnaeosicyos H.Schaef. & Kocyan (1 sp.)
• Luffa Mill. (5–7 spp.)
• Marah Kellogg (7 spp.)
• Microsechium {{small|Naudin}} (4 spp.)
• Nothoalsomitra Hutch. (1 sp.)
• Parasicyos {{small|Dieterle}} (2 sp.)
• Sechiopsis {{small|Naudin}} (5 spp.)
• Sicyocaulis {{small|Wiggins}} (1 sp.)
• Sicyos L. (64 spp., including Frantzia Pittier and Sechium P.Browne)
• Sicyosperma {{small| A.Gray}} (1 sp.)
• Trichosanthes L. (≤100 spp.)
• Tribe Coniandreae Endl.
• Apodanthera Arn. (16 spp.)
• Bambekea Cogn. (1 sp.)
• Ceratosanthes Adans. (4 spp.)
• Corallocarpus Welw. ex Benth. & Hook.f. (17 spp.)
• Cucurbitella Walp. (1 sp.)
• Dendrosicyos Balf.f. (1 sp.)
• Doyerea Grosourdy (1 sp.)
• Eureiandra Hook.f. (8 spp.)
• Gurania (Schltdl.) Cogn. (37 spp.)
• Halosicyos Mart.Crov (1 sp.)
• Helmontia Cogn. (2–4 spp.)
• Ibervillea Greene (8 spp.)
• Kedrostis Medik. (28 spp.)
• Psiguria Neck. ex Arn. (6–12 spp.)
• Seyrigia Keraudren (6 spp.)
• Trochomeriopsis Cogn. (1 sp.)
• Wilbrandia Silva Manso (5 spp.)
• Tribe Benincaseae Ser.
• Acanthosicyos Welw. ex Hook.f. (1 sp.)
• Benincasa Savi (2 spp., including Praecitrullus Pangalo)
• Blastania {{small|Kotschy & Peyr.}} (3 spp., including Ctenolepis Hook.f.)
• Borneosicyos (1–2 spp.)
• Cephalopentandra Chiov. (1 sp.)
• Citrullus Schrad. (4 spp.)
• Coccinia Wight & Arn. (30 spp.)
• Cucumis L. (65 spp.)
• Dactyliandra Hook.f. (2 spp.)
• Diplocyclos (Endl.) T.Post & Kuntze (4 spp.)
• Indomelothria (2 spp.)
• Khmeriosicyos (1 sp.)
• Lagenaria Ser. (6 spp.)
• Lemurosicyos Keraudren (1 sp.)
• Melothria L. (12 spp., including M. scabra)
• Muellerargia Cogn. (2 sp.)
• Oreosyce {{small|Hook.f.}} (1 sp.)
• Papuasicyos (8 spp.)
• Peponium Engl. (20 spp.)
• Raphidiocystis Hook.f. (5 spp.)
• Ruthalicia C.Jeffrey (2 spp.)
• Scopellaria W.J.de Wilde & Duyfjes (2 spp.)
• Solena Lour. (3 spp.)
• Trochomeria Hook.f. (8 spp.)
• Zehneria Endl. (ca. 60 spp.)
• Tribe Cucurbiteae Ser.
• Abobra Naudin (1 sp.)
• Calycophysum H.Karst. & Triana (5 spp.)
• Cayaponia Silva Manso (74 spp.)
• Cionosicys Griseb. (4–5 spp.)
• Cucurbita L. (15 spp.)
• Penelopeia Urb. (2 spp.)
• Peponopsis Naudin (1 sp.)
• Polyclathra Bertol. (6 spp.)
• Schizocarpum Schrad. (11 spp.)
• Selysia Cogn. (4 spp.)
• Sicana Naudin (4 spp.)
• Tecunumania Standl. & Steyerm. (1 sp.)

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Modern molecular phylogenetics suggest the following relationships:{{cite journal |vauthors=((Zhang L-B)), Simmons MP, Kocyan A, Renner SS |year=2006 |title=Phylogeny of the Cucurbitales based on DNA sequences of nine loci from three genomes: Implications for morphological and sexual system evolution |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume=39 |issue=2 |pages=305–322 |url=http://www.umsl.edu/~renners/Zhang_Cucurbitales_MPE2006.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130908221529/http://www.umsl.edu/~renners/Zhang_Cucurbitales_MPE2006.pdf |archive-date=2013-09-08 |url-status=live |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2005.10.002 |pmid=16293423|bibcode=2006MolPE..39..305Z }}{{cite journal |vauthors=Schaefer H, Heibl C, Renner SS |year=2009 |title=Gourds afloat: A dated phylogeny reveals an Asian origin of the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae) and numerous oversea dispersal events |journal=Proc R Soc B |volume=276 |issue=1658 |pages=843–851 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2008.1447|pmid=19033142 |pmc=2664369 }}{{cite journal |vauthors=de Boer HJ, Schaefer H, Thulin M, Renner SS |year=2012 |title=Evolution and loss of long-fringed petals: A case study using a dated phylogeny of the snake gourds, Trichosanthes (Cucurbitaceae) |journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=108 |doi=10.1186/1471-2148-12-108|pmid=22759528 |pmc=3502538 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2012BMCEE..12..108D }}{{cite thesis |author=Belgrano MJ |year=2012 |title=Estudio sistemático y biogeográfico del género Apodanthera Arn. (Cucurbitaceae) |trans-title=Systematic and biogeographic study of the genus Apodanthera Arn. (Cucurbitaceae) |type=Ph.D. |publisher=Universidad Nacional de La Plata |url=http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/26411}}{{cite book |vauthors=Renner SS, Schaefer H |year=2016 |chapter=Phylogeny and evolution of the Cucurbitaceae |veditors=Grumet R, Katzir N, Garcia-Mas J |title=Genetics and Genomics of Cucurbitaceae |volume=20 |series=Plant Genetics and Genomics: Crops and Models |location=New York, NY |publisher=Springer International Publishing |pages=1–11 |doi=10.1007/7397_2016_14|isbn=978-3-319-49330-5 }}

{{anchor|Pests|Diseases}}

Sweet potato whitefly is the vector of a number of cucurbit viruses that cause yellowing symptoms throughout the southern United States.{{cite web |last=Wintermantel |first=William M. |title=Whitefly-Transmitted Yellowing Viruses of Cucurbit Crops |date=2020 |url=https://www.planthealthexchange.org/cucurbits/Pages/GROW-CUC-08-20-006.aspx |publisher=American Phytopathological Society |doi=10.1094/grow-cuc-08-20-006 |s2cid=242003450 }}

{{Reflist|28em|refs=

{{cite web |last1=Schaefer |first1=Hanno |last2=Acevedo-Rodríguez |first2=Pedro |title=Guide to the genera of lianas and climbing plants in the neotropics |url=https://naturalhistory.si.edu/sites/default/files/media/file/cucurbitaceae.pdf |website=Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History |access-date=26 January 2024}}

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• {{cite book |veditors=Bates D, Robinson R, Jeffrey C |year=1990 |title=Biology and Utilization of the Cucurbitaceae |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-0-8014-1670-5}}
• {{cite journal |author=Jeffrey C. |year=2005 |title=A new system of Cucurbitaceae |journal=Bot. Zhurn. |volume=90 |pages=332–335}}

• {{commonscat-inline}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20111028061200/http://www.cucurbit.org/family.html Cucurbitaceae] in T.C. Andres (1995 onwards).
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20211028184716/http://delta-intkey.com/angio/www/cucurbit.htm Cucurbitaceae] in L. Watson and M.J. Dallwitz (1992 onwards). The families of flowering plants: descriptions, illustrations, identification, information retrieval.

{{Angiosperm families}}

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Category:Rosid families

Category:Extant Danian first appearances

Category:Taxa named by Antoine Laurent de Jussieu

Category:Taxa described in 1789