tendril
In botany, a tendril is a specialized Plant stem, stem, leaf or Petiole (botany), petiole with a thread-like shape used by climbing plants for support and attachment, as well as cellular invasion by parasitic plants such as ''Cuscuta''. There ar ...
-bearing plants in the
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
Cucurbitaceae
The Cucurbitaceae (), also called cucurbits or the gourd family, are a plant family (biology), family consisting of about 965 species in 101 genera.
which includes the
cucumber
The cucumber (''Cucumis sativus'') is a widely-cultivated creeping vine plant in the family Cucurbitaceae that bears cylindrical to spherical fruits, which are used as culinary vegetables.true melon
''Cucumis melo'', also known as melon, is a species of ''Cucumis'' that has been developed into many cultivated varieties. The fruit is a pepo. The flesh is either sweet or bland, with or without an aroma, and the rind can be smooth (such as ho ...
s (''Cucumis melo'', including
cantaloupe
The cantaloupe ( ) is a type of true melon (''Cucumis melo'') with sweet, aromatic, and usually orange flesh. Originally, ''cantaloupe'' refers to the true cantaloupe or European cantaloupe with non- to slightly netted and often ribbed rind. ...
melon
A melon is any of various plants of the family Cucurbitaceae with sweet, edible, and fleshy fruit. It can also specifically refer to ''Cucumis melo'', commonly known as the "true melon" or simply "melon". The term "melon" can apply to both the p ...
(''
Cucumis metuliferus
''Cucumis metuliferus'', commonly called the African horned cucumber (shortened to horned cucumber), horned melon, spiked melon, jelly melon, or kiwano, is an annual vine in the cucumber and melon family Cucurbitaceae. Its fruit has horn-like ...
''), and the West Indian gherkin ('' Cucumis anguria'').
30 species occur in
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
, and 25 occur in
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
,
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...
, and
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
. However, ''
Cucumis myriocarpus
''Cucumis myriocarpus'', the gooseberry cucumber, gooseberry gourd, paddy melon, mallee pear or prickly paddy melon, is a prostrate or climbing annual herb native to tropical and southern Africa.Borger, John, "Paddy and Afghan Melons", July 200 ...
'' was introduced to Australia from
Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the list of sovereign states and ...
, and is regarded as an
invasive species
An invasive species is an introduced species that harms its new environment. Invasive species adversely affect habitats and bioregions, causing ecological, environmental, and/or economic damage. The term can also be used for native spec ...
.
Species
,
Plants of the World Online
Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
History
Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...
accepted 61 species:
*''
Cucumis aculeatus
__NOTOC__
''Cucumis'' is a genus of twining, tendril-bearing plants in the family Cucurbitaceae which includes the cucumber (''Cucumis sativus''), true melons (''Cucumis melo'', including cantaloupe and honeydew), the horned melon (''Cucumis ...
'' Cogn.
*''
Cucumis aetheocarpus
__NOTOC__
''Cucumis'' is a genus of twining, tendril-bearing plants in the family Cucurbitaceae which includes the cucumber (''Cucumis sativus''), true melons (''Cucumis melo'', including cantaloupe and honeydew), the horned melon (''Cucumis ...
Cucumis carolinus
__NOTOC__
''Cucumis'' is a genus of twining, tendril-bearing plants in the family Cucurbitaceae which includes the cucumber (''Cucumis sativus''), true melons (''Cucumis melo'', including cantaloupe and honeydew), the horned melon ('' Cucumis ...
Cucumis dipsaceus
''Cucumis dipsaceus'', also known as Arabian cucumber or hedgehog cucumber, is an annual climbing herb that can be found in tropical and arid locations. The plant is native to eastern Africa, first found in Sudan, southern Egypt, and Ethiopia. Th ...
Cucumis humifructus
''Cucumis humifructus'', the aardvark cucumber or aardvark pumpkin, is a kind of cucumber (family Cucurbitaceae) from southern and tropical Africa which fruits underground. It is a prostrate vine up to in length. It is reliant on the aardvark ( ...
Cucumis insignis
__NOTOC__
''Cucumis'' is a genus of vine, twining, tendril-bearing plants in the Family (biology), family Cucurbitaceae which includes the cucumber (''Cucumis sativus''), true melons (''Cucumis melo'', including cantaloupe and Honeydew (melon), ...
Cucumis melo
''Cucumis melo'', also known as melon, is a species of ''Cucumis'' that has been developed into many cultivated varieties. The fruit is a pepo. The flesh is either sweet or bland, with or without an aroma, and the rind can be smooth (such as ho ...
Cucumis metuliferus
''Cucumis metuliferus'', commonly called the African horned cucumber (shortened to horned cucumber), horned melon, spiked melon, jelly melon, or kiwano, is an annual vine in the cucumber and melon family Cucurbitaceae. Its fruit has horn-like ...
'' E.Mey. ex Naudin
*''
Cucumis myriocarpus
''Cucumis myriocarpus'', the gooseberry cucumber, gooseberry gourd, paddy melon, mallee pear or prickly paddy melon, is a prostrate or climbing annual herb native to tropical and southern Africa.Borger, John, "Paddy and Afghan Melons", July 200 ...
Cucumis pubituberculatus
__NOTOC__
''Cucumis'' is a genus of twining, tendril-bearing plants in the family Cucurbitaceae which includes the cucumber (''Cucumis sativus''), true melons (''Cucumis melo'', including cantaloupe and honeydew), the horned melon (''Cucumis ...
Bailan melon
The Bailan melon () is a locally famous melon grown near Lanzhou, the capital city of Gansu province in the People's Republic of China.
It is a variety of honeydew melon, globose to subglobose and typically has white skin with sweet, white or p ...
Gaya melon
The Gaya melon, also known as the ivory gaya, snowball, sweet snowball, ghost, dino(saur), dino(saur) egg, snow leopard, matice, matisse, sugar baby, and silver star melons, is a small to big-sized honeydew cultivar developed originally in Japa ...
*
Hami melon
''Hami melon'' is an umbrella term for sweet melon varieties from Xinjiang, China, especially from Hami. This fruit is also referred to as the Chinese Hami melon or the snow melon. The outer color is generally white through pink or yellow thro ...
*
Korean melon
The oriental melon (''Cucumis melo'' Makuwa Group) is a group of ''Cucumis melo'' cultivars that are produced in East Asia. Phylogenetic studies tracing the genetic lineage of the plant suggest that it may have originated in eastern India, having ...
Sugar melon
A sugar melon is a type of cantaloupe that is about in diameter
In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the centre of the circle and whose endpoints lie on the circle. It can also be defined as th ...
*
Winter melon
''Benincasa hispida'', the wax gourd, also called ash gourd, white gourd, winter gourd, winter melon, tallow gourd, ash pumpkin, Chinese preserving melon, is a vine grown for its very large fruit, eaten as a vegetable when mature.
It is nat ...
References
Further reading
* Ghebretinsae, A. G., Thulin, M. & Barber, J. C. (2007). Relationships of cucumbers and melons unraveled: molecular phylogenetics of ''Cucumis'' and related genera (Benincaseae, Cucurbitaceae). ''American Journal of Botany'' 94(7): 1256–1266.
*
* Sebastian, P. M., H. Schaefer, I. R. H. Telford, and S. S. Renner. 2010. Cucumber and melon have their wild progenitors in India, and the sister species of Cucumis melo is from Australia" ''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences'' 107(32) 14269–1427 (online) * Telford, I. R. H., P. M. Sebastian, J. J. Bruhl, and S. S. Renner. 2011. Cucumis (Cucurbitaceae) in Australia and eastern Malesia, including newly recognized species and the sister species to C. melo. Systematic Botany 36(2): 376-38 (online) *