CUCURBITACEAE – GOURD OR CUCUMBER FAMILY
Plant: herbs, climbing vines, rarely shrubs or trees Stem: mostly vines locally, creeping and climbing using coiled tendrils, sometimes angled, sometimes hollow Root: Leaves: leaves alternate, simple to deeply palmately lobed (often maple-like) to rarely pinnately lobed; no stipules Flowers: mostly imperfect (monoecious or dioecious), rarely perfect, regular (actinomorphic); sepals mostly 5-6-lobed; petals mostly 5-lobed but sometimes 6; 0-5 stamens; ovary inferior,1 pistil, 1 to rarely 3 styles Fruit: berry-like, with a rind, often very fleshy, or a capsule; 1 to many seeds; rarely spiny Other: pumpkins, cantaloupes, squash, cucumbers, watermelons and gourds in this large family; Dicotyledons Group Genera: 130+ genera; locally Cucurbita, Echinocystis, Melothria, Sicyos
WARNING – family descriptions are only a layman’s guide and should not be used as definitive Flower Morphology in the Cucurbitaceae (Gourd or Cucumber Family)
Examples of some common genera
Garden Cucumber Creeping [Guadeloupe] Cucumber Cucumis sativus L. (Introduced) Melothria pendula L.
[One-Seeded] Bur Cucumber Wild Pear Gourd [Ozark melon] Sicyos angulatus L. Cucurbita pepo L. var. ozarkana D. Decker
Wild Cucumber [White Balsam Apple] Echinocystis lobata (Michx.) Torr. & Gray CUCURBITACEAE – GOURD OR CUCUMBER FAMILY
Garden Watermelon; Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai (Introduced) Garden Cucumber; Cucumis sativus L. (Introduced) Missouri [Buffalo; Wild] Gourd [Pumpkin]; Cucurbita foetidissima Kunth Field Pumpkin including Zucchini; Cucurbita pepo L. (Introduced in part) Wild Pear Gourd [Ozark melon]; Cucurbita pepo L. var. ozarkana D. Decker Wild Cucumber [White Balsam Apple]; Echinocystis lobata (Michx.) Torr. & Gray Creeping [Guadeloupe] Cucumber; Melothria pendula L. [One-Seeded] Bur Cucumber; Sicyos angulatus L. Garden Watermelon USDA Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai (Introduced) Cucurbitaceae (Gourd Family) Near Strafford, Greene County, Missouri Notes: vine, monoecious; pistillate flowers 5-lobed, yellow; staminate flowers usually much smaller; leaves ovate to elliptical, deeply pinnately lobed on long petioles, green above and pale below; fruit a large smooth fleshy pod with seeds, size varies with variety; summer to fall (cultivated, many varieties, sometimes escapes) [V Max Brown, 2017] Garden Cucumber Cucumis sativus L. (Introduced) Cucurbitaceae (Gourd Family) Near Strafford, Greene County, Missouri Notes: vine, monoecious; pistillate flowers 5-lobed, yellow; staminate flowers usually much smaller; leaves ovate to triangular (sort of 5-lobed) on long petioles; tendrils not branching; fruit a smooth fleshy pod with seeds, size varies with variety; summer to fall (cultivated, many varieties) [V Max Brown, 2013] Missouri [Buffalo; Wild] USDA Gourd [Pumpkin] Cucurbita foetidissima Kunth Cucurbitaceae (Gourd Family) Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, Chase County, Kansas Notes: vine; monoecious, flowers yellow, large and showy; leaves alternate, somewhat triangular, cordate base, fine hairy above and below, long pointed, somewhat lobed, bad odor when crushed; stem fine hairy; fruit a gourd with seeds; summer [V Max Brown, 2010] Field Pumpkin including Zucchini Cucurbita pepo L. (Introduced in part) Cucurbitaceae (Gourd Family) Near Strafford, Greene County, Missouri Notes: vine, monoecious; pistillate flowers 5-lobed, yellow; staminate flowers smaller in axils; leaves ovate to triangular to somewhat reniform, 3 to 7 shallow lobed, somewhat roughened above and below, greenish-grayish below; fruit varies but usually a fleshy pod with seeds, size varies with variety; summer to fall (much cultivated, includes field pumpkin, zucchini, acorn squash, summer squash, some gourds, and others; native and introduced) [V Max Brown, 2013] Wild Pear Gourd [Ozark melon] Cucurbita pepo L. var. ozarkana D. Decker Cucurbitaceae (Gourd Family) Wire Road Conservation Area, Stone County, Missouri Notes: vine, monoecious; pistillate flowers 5-lobed, yellow; staminate flowers smaller in axils; leaves ovate to triangular, 3 to 7 shallow lobed with sharp points, roughened above and below, greenish-grayish below; stems very rough; fruit varies (up to 8+ cm) but usually a fleshy pod (oval to pear shaped) with many seeds; late summer to fall [V Max Brown, 2014] Wild Cucumber [White Balsam Apple] USDA Echinocystis lobata (Michx.) Torr. & Gray Cucurbitaceae (Gourd Family) Maumee River Metroparks, Lucas County, Ohio Notes: vine; flowers white, staminate flowers (6-lobed) on erect racemes, pistillate flowers smaller and often in clusters; leaves 5-lobed on long petiole; tendrils forked; fruit with spines; summer to fall [V Max Brown, 2003]
seed Creeping [Guadeloupe] USDA Cucumber Melothria pendula L. Cucurbitaceae (Gourd Family) Mingo National Wildlife Refuge, Stoddard County, Missouri Notes: vine; flowers 5-lobed, yellow, pistillate (solitary) larger than staminate (small clusters of 2-6) flowers; leaves 3-5-lobed on long petiole, no glands; tendrils not branched; fruit smooth, becomes black with age; summer to fall [V Max Brown, 2011] [One-Seeded] Bur Cucumber USDA Sicyos angulatus L. Cucurbitaceae (Gourd Family) Maumee River Metroparks, Lucas County, Ohio Notes: pistillate flowers white to greenish-white in small clusters, staminate flowers in dense racemes; leaves mostly 5-lobed, base somewhat cordate; stem and pedicel hairy; fruit in clusters, with prickles, 1 seed; summer to fall [V Max Brown, 2003]