Cucurbitaceae
Cucurbitaceae Juss., Gen. Pl. 393. 1789. nom. cons. 'Gourd Family'
Characteristic Features:
Monoecious or dioecious vines, usually with tendrils
Leaves palmately veined
Female flowers epiperigynous, usually tricarpellary, syncarpous with parietal placentation
Fruit a pepo, capsule or samara
Diversity:
World- 134 genera 965 species (The Plant List 2013); 95 genera, 965 species (Christenhusz & Byng 2016); 97 genera, 990 species (Mabberely 2017); 103 genera, 1087 species (CoL 2021)
India - 31 genera 94 species (Renner & Pandey 2012); 32 genera, 106 species (BSI, 2021)
Indian Himalaya- 34 genera, 68 species (Singh et al. 2019)
Uttarakhand -19 genera 38 species (Uniyal et al. 2007)
General Characters:
Cucurbitaceae in POWO 2021 (Plants of the World Online)
Cucurbitaceae in Wikipedia
Systematic Position of the Family in Different Systems of Classifications:
Systematic position in 2-Superkingdom, 7-Kingdom classification of Ruggiero et al. (2015)
Super Kingdom- Eukaryota, Kingdom- Plantae, Subkingdom- Viridiplantae, Infrakingdom- Streptophyta, Superphylum- Embryophyta, Phylum- Tracheophyta, Subphylum- Spermatophytina, Superclass- Angiospermae, Class- Magnoliopsida, Superorder-Rosanae, Order-Cucurbitales
Bentham & Hooker (1862-83)
Class : Dicotyledons
Subclass : Polypetalae
Series : Calyciflorae
Orders : Passiflorales
Engler & Prantl (1887-1915)
Kingdom : Plantae
Division : Embryophyta Siphonogama
Subdivision: Angiospermae
Class : Dicotyledoneae
Subclass : Metachlamydeae
Order : Cucurbitales
Hutchinson (1973)
Phylum : Angiospermae
Subphylum: Dicotyledones
Division : Lignosae
Order : Cucurbitales
Cronquist (1988)
Division : Magnoliophyta
Class : Magnoliopsida
Subclass: Dilleniidae
Order : Violales
Thorne & Reveal (2007)
Class : Magnoliopsida
Subclass : Rosidae
Super Order : Violanae
Order : Violales
Takhtajan (2009)
Phylum : Magnoliophyta
Class : Magnoliopsida
Subclass : Dilleniidae
Super Order: Violanae
Order : Cucurbitales
Reveal (2012)
Class : Equisetopsida
Subclass : Magnoliidae
Super Order: Rosanae
Order : Cucurbitales
Suborder : Cucurbitineae
APG-IV (2016)
Clade : Angiosperms
Clade : Eudicots
Clade : Core Eudicots
Clade : Superrosids
Clade : Rosids
Clade : Fabids
Order : Cucurbitales
Shipunov (2016)
Class : Angiospermae
Subclass : Rosidae
Super Order: Rosanae
Order : Cucurbitales
Genera & Species in Pantnagar
To see larger images please click on the names
~~~Wild Flora~~~
Coccinia grandis (L.) Voigt.
Luffa echinata Roxb. (Male)
Luffa echinata Roxb. (Female)
Luffa graveolens Roxb.
Mukia maderaspatana (L.) M.Roem.
Cucumis melo L. subsp. agrestis (Naudin) Pangalo
Diplocyclos palmatus (L.) C.Jeffrey
***Cultivated Flora***
Cucumis sativus L.
Vernacular name: Cucumber (English); Kheera (Hindi)
Nativity: Himalaya to China (POWO, 2019)
Common Characteristics: Climbing herbs. Stem angular, pubescent, fistular. Leaves palmately 5 lobed, hispid. Fruit oblongoid.
Flowering period: March to June
Propagation Methods: Propagated by seeds (Dave’s Garden)
Photographed @ Jha Colony
Cucurbita maxima Duchesne.
Vernacular name: Pumpkin, Giant pumpkin, Great pumpkin, Melon pumpkin, pumpkin (English); Lal kaddu, Kashiphal (Hindi)
Nativity:Bolivia to North Argentina (POWO, 2019)
Common Characteristics: Annual climbers, dioecious. Leaves reniform to rounded, petiole long and hollow. Flowers unisexual. Fruit large oval- rounded, ribbed.
Flowering period: May to October
Propagation Methods: Propagated by seeds (Dave’s Garden, 2019)
Photographed @ Jha Colony
Luffa acutangula (L.) Roxb.
Vernacular name: Ridged gourd, Ribbed gourd (English); Kali tori (Hindi)
Nativity:Indian subcontinent (POWO, 2019)
Common Characteristics: Annual dioecious climbers. Leaves palmately 3-5 lobed. Female flowers solitary, axillary, male flowers in racemes. Fruit smooth, cylindrical.
Flowering period: May to October
Propagation Methods: Propagated by seeds (Dave’s Garden)
Photographed near Shubhash Bhawan