The Cucurbitaceae, also called cucurbits or the gourd family, are a plant family consisting of about 965 species in around 95 genera, of which the most important to humans are:
Tibouchina is a neotropical flowering plant genus in the family Melastomataceae. Species of this genus are subshrubs, shrubs or small trees and typically have purple flowers. They are native to Mexico, the Caribbean, and South America where they are found as far south as northern Argentina. Members of this genus are known as glory bushes, glory trees or princess flowers. The name Tibouchina is adapted from a Guianan indigenous name for a member of this genus. A systematic study in 2013 showed that as then circumscribed the genus was paraphyletic, and in 2019 the genus was split into a more narrowly circumscribed Tibouchina, two re-established genera Pleroma and Chaetogastra, and a new genus, Andesanthus.
Cucumis is a genus of twining, tendril-bearing plants in the family Cucurbitaceae which includes the cucumber, muskmelons, the horned melon, and the West Indian gherkin.
William Botting Hemsley was an English botanist and 1909 Victoria Medal of Honour recipient.
Melastoma is a genus in the family Melastomataceae. It has over 100 species distributed around Southeast Asia, India, north to Japan, south to Australia and the Pacific Islands. The number of species should probably be reduced according to some sources. Many species have been planted around the world for the aesthetic value of their bright purple flowers.
Monochaetum is a neotropical genus of shrubs and subshrubs with about 54 species. It occurs in warm temperate to tropical montane habitats from Mexico and Central America to the South American Andes of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Peru with one species reaching the Guayana Highlands of Venezuela and Guyana.
Sicyos is a flowering plant genus of the family Cucurbitaceae. Members of the genus are commonly known as burr cucumbers.
Melothria scabra, commonly known as the cucamelon, Mexican miniature watermelon, Mexican sour cucumber, Mexican sour gherkin, mouse melon, or pepquinos, is a species of flowering plant in the cucurbit family grown for its edible fruit. Its native range spans Mexico to Venezuela. Fruits are about the size of grapes and taste like cucumbers with a tinge of sourness. It may have been eaten by indigenous peoples before European colonization of the Americas began.
Frantzia is a genus of the gourd family, Cucurbitaceae containing around 6 species of herbaceous climbers with tuberous roots. All members grow in forest and secondary scrub in Central America where tacaco is a widely cultivated vegetable.
Cayaponia is the largest genus in the gourd family, Cucurbitaceae, with about 60 species. The plants are referred to as melonleaf. They are common from the southern United States to South America. Some species are also found in western Africa, Madagascar, and Fernando de Noronha, which is about 354 km off the coast of Brazil. It is native the southern United States to central South America and the Caribbean islands. Most species are found in rainforests and have white or yellow-green flowers. The original Cayaponia were pollinated by bats, but at least two shifts to bee pollination have occurred among some of its species. This is apparently the first clade to shift from bat to bee pollination vice bee to bat pollination. A 2011 study based on genetics placed the genus Selysia under this genus.
Melothria is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cucurbitaceae, native to the Americas from the United States to Argentina, and with some introductions in Africa and elsewhere. A number of Old World species formerly in Melothria were reassigned to Cucumis.
Chaetogastra is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Melastomataceae. Its native range is South America and North America. It contains around 115 species.
Ibervillea is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Cucurbitaceae.
Peponium is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Cucurbitaceae.
Microsechium is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Cucurbitaceae.
Pleiochiton is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Melastomataceae.
Hanburia is a genus of plants in the tribe Sicyoeae of the gourd family, Cucurbitaceae. Its native range is from Mexico to Venezuela and Peru. It is found in the countries of Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panamá, Peru and Venezuela.
Pleroma is a genus of flowering plant in the family Melastomataceae, native from Puerto Rico and the Leeward Islands to tropical South America.
Jennie van Ackeren Dieterle was an American botanist, plant collector, curator, university teacher and taxonomist.. She collected more than 3,700 plant specimens and identified over 570 of them, the majority from the Cucurbitaceae family. Most of the plants collected came from Mexico and the United States. She identified and named nine previously undescribed species of Cucurbitaceae. She has been recognised for her expertise in this family of plants and had an entire genus of Cucurbitaceae from Mexico named after her, known as Dieterlea.
