Cucurbitaceae

Thesaurus

Noun

Cucurbitaceae - a family of herbaceous vines (such as cucumber or melon or squash or pumpkin)family Cucurbitaceae, gourd familydicot family, magnoliopsid family - family of flowering plants having two cotyledons (embryonic leaves) in the seed which usually appear at germinationCampanulales, order Campanulales - an order of plants of the subclass Asteridae including: Campanulaceae; Lobeliaceae; Cucurbitaceae; Goodeniaceae; Compositaecucurbit - any plant of the family Cucurbitaceaegourd vine, gourd - any vine of the family Cucurbitaceae that bears fruits with hard rindsCucurbita, genus Cucurbita - type genus of the Cucurbitaceaegenus Bryonia - climbing perennial herbs: bryonyCitrullus, genus Citrullus - a dicot genus of the family Cucurbitaceae including watermelonsCucumis, genus Cucumis - cucumbers; muskmelonsEcballium, genus Ecballium - exploding cucumber; squirting cucumbergenus Lagenaria, Lagenaria - bottle gourdsgenus Luffa - dishcloth gourdsgenus Momordica, Momordica - Old World tropical vine

Cucurbitaceae

a family of dicotyledonous plants including climbing and trailing herbs and, less commonly, subshrubs. The genus Dendrosicyos, which is found on the island of Socotra, consists of treelike forms. Cucurbitaceae are monoecious or dioecious. The flowers are usually unisexual and sympetalous; they are almost always regular and most often pentamerous. The fruit is usually a many-seeded berry or pepo. (The outer layer of the pericarp of a pepo is hard and coarse; the inner layer is fleshy and juicy.)

There are more than 100 genera, embracing about 900 species. They are distributed mainly in the tropics and subtropics of both hemispheres. The USSR has eight or nine species, belonging to six genera (including Bryonia and Ecballium). There are more than 15 species in cultivation. Many have edible fruits— cucumbers, muskmelons, pumpkins, and watermelons. The Cucurbitaceae also include the calabash gourd, the dishcloth gourd, and the colocynth. Some genera are medicinal plants (for example, Bryonia), and some are ornamentals (for example, Thladiantha and Momordica).

REFERENCES

Aleshina, L. A. “Palinologicheskie dannye k sistematike i filogenii semeistva Cucurbitaceae Juss.” In Morfologiia pyl’tsy Cucurbitaceae, Thymelaeaceae, Cornaceae. Leningrad, 1971.
Jeffrey, C. “On the Classification of the Cucurbitaceae.” Kew Bulletin, 1966, vol. 20, no. 3.

Cucurbitaceae

Related to Cucurbitaceae: Solanaceae, Fabaceae, Poaceae

noun

Synonyms for Cucurbitaceae

noun a family of herbaceous vines (such as cucumber or melon or squash or pumpkin)

Synonyms

family Cucurbitaceae
gourd family

Related Words

dicot family
magnoliopsid family
Campanulales
order Campanulales
cucurbit
gourd vine
gourd
Cucurbita
genus Cucurbita
genus Bryonia
Citrullus
genus Citrullus
Cucumis
genus Cucumis
Ecballium
genus Ecballium
genus Lagenaria
Lagenaria
genus Luffa
genus Momordica
Momordica