CUCURBITACEAE

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1. SYSTEMATIC POSITION:
            Bentham & Hooker
            Division: Phanerogames (Seed Plants)
                 Class: Dicotyledones
                        Sub-class: Polypetalae
                               Series: Calyciflorae
                                     Order: Passiflorales
                                            Family: Cucurbitaceae
           
            2. MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERS:
            Habit – Mostly annual or perennial herbs or shrubs, climbing by means of tendrils.
            Stem – Herbaceous, rooting at nodes.
            Leaves – Alternate, broad, simple, but often deeply lobed, petiole long, tendrils simple or branched, arising in the axil or opposite to the leaf at the node.
            Inflorescence – Often solitary, large and showy, sometimes in racemes or cymes or in panicles.
            Flower – Unisexual, actinomorphic, epigynous.
            Calyx – Sepals 5, united, campanulate or tubular, imbricate.
            Corolla – Petals 5, united, inserted on calyx tube, valvate to imbricate.
            Androecium – Stamens apparently 3 but 5, anthers 3 but 5, anthers free or synandrous.
            Gynoecium – Carpel 3, syncarpous, ovary inferior, 3-locular with 1 to many ovules in each loculus, placentation parietal, style 1, stigma 3, forked.
            Fruit – Berry or pepo.
              4. COMPARATIVE SYSTEMATIC POSITION AND AFFINITIES:
            The relationship of this family is very much controversial. Different taxonomists have given different systematic position to this family. According to Bentham & Hooker, De Candolle, etc. this family is allied to Passifloraceae and placed with perigynous polypetalae under Calyciflorae of the order Passiflorales. Engler & Prantl, Eichler, etc. on the other hand have considered it to be very advanced family of the sympetalae due to gamopetalous corolla, epigynous and synandrous condition of the stamens. These botanists have placed this family under Crcurbitales just after Rubiales and before Campanulales.
            Cucurbitaceae shows affinities with Campanulaceae in synandrous stamens, similar structure of calyx and corolla and also in the presence of bi-collateral bundles.
               5. ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE:
            1. The family Cucurbitaceae is famous for its edible fruits and vegetables like Cucumis melo (Musk melon), C. sativus (Cucumber), Cucurbita maxima (Sweet gourd), C. moschatus (Small sweet gourd), C. pepo (Ash gourd), Luffa acutangula (Angle gourd), L. cylindrical (Bath sponge gourd), Momordica charentia (Bitter gourd), Cephalandra indica (Scarlet gourd), Trichosanthes dioica (Potol), Lagenaria vulgaris (Bottle gourd), etc.
            2. Momordica subangulata is a climbing shrub, grown as ornamental.


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