The Cucurbitales are an order of flowering plants, included in the rosid group of dicotyledons. This order mostly belongs to tropical areas, with limited presence in subtropical and temperate regions. The order includes shrubs and trees, together with many herbs and climbers. One major characteristic of the Cucurbitales is the presence of unisexual flowers, mostly pentacyclic, with thick pointed petals. The pollination is usually performed by insects, but wind pollination is also present.
The Cucurbitaceae, also called cucurbits or the gourd family, are a plant family consisting of about 965 species in 101 genera. Those of most agricultural, commercial or nutritional value to humans include:
Gourds include the fruits of some flowering plant species in the family Cucurbitaceae, particularly Cucurbita and Lagenaria. The term refers to a number of species and subspecies, many with hard shells, and some without. Many gourds have large, bulbous bodies and long necks, such as Dipper Gourds, many variations of Bottle Gourd and caveman club gourds. One of the earliest domesticated types of plants, subspecies of the bottle gourd, Lagenaria siceraria, have been discovered in archaeological sites dating from as early as 13,000 BC. Gourds have had numerous uses throughout history, including as tools, musical instruments, objects of art, film, and food.
Cucurbita is a genus of herbaceous fruits in the gourd family, Cucurbitaceae, native to the Andes and Mesoamerica. Five edible species are grown and consumed for their flesh and seeds. They are variously known as squash, pumpkin, or gourd, depending on species, variety, and local parlance. Other kinds of gourd, also called bottle-gourds, are native to Africa and belong to the genus Lagenaria, which is in the same family and subfamily as Cucurbita, but in a different tribe, their young fruits are eaten much like those of the Cucurbita species.
Sassafras is a genus of three extant and one extinct species of deciduous trees in the family Lauraceae, native to eastern North America and eastern Asia. The genus is distinguished by its aromatic properties, which have made the tree useful to humans.
Bryonia is a genus of flowering plants in the gourd family. Bryony is its best-known common name. They are native to western Eurasia and adjacent regions, such as North Africa, the Canary Islands and South Asia.
The scarlet gourds are a genus with 25 species. It is distributed in sub-Saharan Africa and with one species, C. grandis also in South Asia and Southeast Asia, and it is also introduced into the New World. Incidentally, C. grandis is also a cultivated crop and it is used for culinary and medical purposes.
Oxalis stricta, called the common yellow woodsorrel, common yellow oxalis, upright yellow-sorrel, lemon clover, or more ambiguously and informally "sourgrass", "juicy fruit","sheep weed", or "pickle plant", is a herbaceous plant native to North America and East Asia and has been introduced elsewhere, especially in Europe. It tends to grow in woodlands, meadows, and in disturbed areas as both a perennial and annual. Erect when young, this plant later becomes decumbent as it lies down, and branches regularly. It is not to be confused with similar plants in the same genus which are also often referred to as "yellow woodsorrel".
Datura leichhardtii is a species of thorn apple in the genus Datura. In 1844, Ludwig Leichhardt discovered this species in Australia. Ferdinand von Mueller gave it the name Datura leichhardtii when he published his first description of it in 1855.
Dendrosicyos is a monotypic genus in the plant family Cucurbitaceae. The only species is Dendrosicyos socotranus, the cucumber tree. The species is endemic to the island of Socotra in Yemen, and is the only species in the Cucurbitaceae to grow in a tree form. The species name was originally spelled D. socotrana, but this is corrected to masculine grammatical gender according to the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants.
Chloropyron palmatum is an endangered species of salt-tolerant, flowering plant in the family Orobanchaceae. It is a low, highly branched herbaceous annual with each flower enclosed by a single, characteristically palmate bract. It is known by the common names of palmate salty bird's-beak and palmate-bract bird's-beak.
Rhodotus is a genus in the fungus family Physalacriaceae. There are two species in the genus with the best known, Rhodotus palmatus, called the netted rhodotus, the rosy veincap, or the wrinkled peach. This uncommon species has a circumboreal distribution, and has been collected in eastern North America, northern Africa, Europe, and Asia; declining populations in Europe have led to its appearance in over half of the European fungal Red Lists of threatened species. Typically found growing on the stumps and logs of rotting hardwoods, mature specimens may usually be identified by the pinkish color and the distinctive ridged and veined surface of their rubbery caps; variations in the color and quantity of light received during development lead to variations in the size, shape, and cap color of fruit bodies.
Auranticarpa rhombifolia is a rainforest tree of eastern Australia. Known as the diamond leaf pittosporum, this tree is planted in many parts of Australia as an ornamental. The white flowers and orange fruit make it a most appealing street or garden tree. Other common names include hollywood, diamond leaf laurel, white myrtle and white holly.
Macaranga tanarius is a plant found in South East Asia, Thailand, Papua New Guinea, South China, Taiwan, and eastern Australia. It is commonly seen as a pioneer species in disturbed rainforest areas. Easily recognised for the round veiny leaves. In Australia it naturally occurs from the Richmond River, New South Wales to Cooktown in tropical Queensland.
Backhousia subargentea is a rare Australian rainforest tree, growing near Mullumbimby in northeastern New South Wales and from Boonah to Imbil in southeastern Queensland.
Dodonaea triquetra, known as common hop bush or large leaf hop bush, is a species of shrub occurring in eastern Australia.
Ibervillea macdougalii is a species of flowering plant of the Cucurbitaceae or gourd family. Also called the Tumamoc globeberry, it is native to the Sonoran Desert, and is found in Arizona, Baja California Norte, Sonora, and Zacatecas.
Blastania garcinii, also known as Garcin's bur cucumber, is a tender climber of the family Cucurbitaceae. It is one of the three species of the genus Blastania. The species was named after French botanist Laurent Garcin, who traveled India in the 18th century.
Lomandra effusa is a perennial, dioecious, rhizomatous herb native to Australia. It is a perennial tussock with bluish green, large, arching leaves which are distinctive by the two toothed leaf tip. It has white, cream or pink fragrant flowers during the months of June to October.
