Cucurbitaceae
The Cucurbitaceae, also called cucurbits or the gourd family, are a plant family consisting of about 965 species in around 95 genera,[2] of which the most important to humans are:
- Cucurbita – squash, pumpkin, zucchini, some gourds
- Lagenaria – calabash, and others that are inedible
- Citrullus – watermelon (C. lanatus, C. colocynthis) and others
- Cucumis – cucumber (C. sativus), various melon
- Momordica – bitter melon
- Luffa – the common name is also luffa, sometimes spelled loofah (when fully ripened, two species of this fibrous fruit are the source of the loofah scrubbing sponge)
Cucurbitaceae | |
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Hodgsonia male plant | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Cucurbitales |
Family: | Cucurbitaceae Juss.[1] |
Type genus | |
Cucurbita | |
Tribes and genera | |
See text. |
The plants in this family are grown around the tropics and in temperate areas, where those with edible fruits were among the earliest cultivated plants in both the Old and New Worlds. The family Cucurbitaceae ranks among the highest of plant families for number and percentage of species used as human food.[3] The name Cucurbitaceae comes to international scientific vocabulary from New Latin, from Cucurbita, the type genus, + -aceae,[4] a standardized suffix for plant family names in modern taxonomy. The genus name comes from the Classical Latin word cucurbita, "gourd".
Description
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.
Fossil history
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.[5]
Classification
Tribal classification
The most recent classification of Cucurbitaceae delineates 15 tribes:[6][7]
- 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.
- Anisosperma Silva Manso (1 sp.)
- Cyclantheropsis Harms (3 spp.)
- Fevillea L. (8 spp.)
- Pteropepon (Cogn.) Cogn. (5 spp.)
- Sicydium Schltdl. (7 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.)
- Tribe Indofevilleeae H.Schaef. & S.S.Renner
- Indofevillea Chatterjee (1 sp.)
- Tribe Thladiantheae H.Schaef. & S.S.Renner
- Baijiania A.M.Lu & J.Q.Li (30 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.
- Tribe Schizopeponeae C.Jeffrey
- Herpetospermum Wall. ex Hook.f. (3 spp.)
- Schizopepon Maxim. (6–8 spp.)
- Tribe Sicyoeae Schrad.
- Cyclanthera Schrad. (40 spp.)
- Echinocystis Torr. & A.Gray (1 sp.)
- Echinopepon Naudin (20 spp., including Brandegea Cogn.)
- Frantzia Pittier (5 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.)
- Nothoalsomitra Hutch. (1 sp.)
- Sicyos L. (75 spp., including Sechium P.Browne)
- 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 (9–10 spp.)
- Kedrostis Medik. (28 spp.)
- Melotrianthus M.Crovetto (1–3 spp.)
- Psiguria Neck. ex Arn. (6–12 spp.)
- Seyrigia Keraudren (6 spp.)
- Trochomeriopsis Cogn. (1 sp.)
- Tumamoca Rose (2 spp.)
- Wilbrandia Silva Manso (5 spp.)
- Tribe Benincaseae Ser.
- Acanthosicyos Welw. ex Hook.f. (1 sp.)
- Benincasa Savi (2 spp., including Praecitrullus Pangalo)
- Borneosicyos (1–2 spp.)
- Cephalopentandra Chiov. (1 sp.)
- Citrullus Schrad. (4 spp.)
- Coccinia Wight & Arn. (30 spp.)
- Ctenolepis Hook. f. 1867 (3 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.)
- 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 (50–59 spp., including Selysia Cogn.)
- 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.)
- Sicana Naudin (4 spp.)
- Tecunumania Standl. & Steyerm. (1 sp.)
Systematics
Modern molecular phylogenetics suggest the following relationships:[6][8][9][10][11][12]
Detailed Cladogram showing Cucurbitaceae phylogeny | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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References
- Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (2009). "An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG III". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 161 (2): 105–121. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.2009.00996.x.
- Christenhusz, M. J. M. & Byng, J. W. (2016). "The number of known plants species in the world and its annual increase". Phytotaxa. 261 (3): 201–217. doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.261.3.1.
- "Cucurbits". Purdue University. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
- Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, Merriam-Webster.
- 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.
- Schaefer H, Renner SS (2011). "Phylogenetic relationships in the order Cucurbitales and a new classification of the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae)". Taxon. 60 (1): 122–138. doi:10.1002/tax.601011. JSTOR 41059827.
- Schaefer H, Kocyan A, Renner SS (2007). "Phylogenetics of Cucumis (Cucurbitaceae): Cucumber (C. sativus) belongs in an Asian/Australian clade far from melon (C. melo)". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 7: 58–69. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-7-58. PMC 3225884. PMID 17425784.
- Zhang L-B, Simmons MP, Kocyan A, Renner SS (2006). "Phylogeny of the Cucurbitales based on DNA sequences of nine loci from three genomes: Implications for morphological and sexual system evolution" (PDF). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 39 (2): 305–322. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2005.10.002. PMID 16293423.
- Schaefer H, Heibl C, Renner SS (2009). "Gourds afloat: A dated phylogeny reveals an Asian origin of the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae) and numerous oversea dispersal events". Proc R Soc B. 276 (1658): 843–851. doi:10.1098/rspb.2008.1447. PMC 2664369. PMID 19033142.
- de Boer HJ, Schaefer H, Thulin M, Renner SS (2012). "Evolution and loss of long-fringed petals: A case study using a dated phylogeny of the snake gourds, Trichosanthes (Cucurbitaceae)". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 12: 108. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-12-108. PMC 3502538. PMID 22759528.
- Belgrano MJ (2012). Estudio sistemático y biogeográfico del género Apodanthera Arn. (Cucurbitaceae) [Systematic and biogeographic study of the genus Apodanthera Arn. (Cucurbitaceae)] (Ph.D.). Universidad Nacional de La Plata.
- Renner SS, Schaefer H (2016). "Phylogeny and evolution of the Cucurbitaceae". In Grumet R, Katzir N, Garcia-Mas J (eds.). Genetics and Genomics of Cucurbitaceae. Plant Genetics and Genomics: Crops and Models. 20. New York, NY: Springer International Publishing. pp. 1–11. doi:10.1007/7397_2016_14. ISBN 978-3-319-49330-5.
Further reading
- Bates D, Robinson R, Jeffrey C, eds. (1990). Biology and Utilization of the Cucurbitaceae. Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-0-8014-1670-5.
- Jeffrey C. (2005). "A new system of Cucurbitaceae". Bot. Zhurn. 90: 332–335.