Cucumis is a genus of twining, tendril-bearing plants in the family Cucurbitaceae which includes the cucumber (Cucumis sativus), true melons (Cucumis melo, including cantaloupe and honeydew), the horned melon (Cucumis metuliferus), and the West Indian gherkin (Cucumis anguria).
| Cucumis | |
|---|---|
| |
| Cantaloupe melon | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Cucurbitales |
| Family: | Cucurbitaceae |
| Subfamily: | Cucurbitoideae |
| Tribe: | Benincaseae |
| Genus: | Cucumis L. |
| Species | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
30 species occur in Africa, and 25 occur in India, Southeast Asia, and Australia.[1] However, Cucumis myriocarpus was introduced to Australia from Sub-Saharan Africa, and is regarded as an invasive species.[2][3]
Species
editAs of October 2022[update], Plants of the World Online accepted 61 species:[4]
- Cucumis aculeatus Cogn.
- Cucumis aetheocarpus (C.Jeffrey) Ghebret. & Thulin
- Cucumis africanus L.f.
- Cucumis althaeoides (Ser.) P.Sebastian & I.Telford
- Cucumis anguria L.
- Cucumis argenteus (Domin) P.Sebastian & I.Telford
- Cucumis asper Cogn.
- Cucumis baladensis Thulin
- Cucumis bryoniifolius (Merxm.) Ghebret. & Thulin
- Cucumis canoxyi Thulin & Al-Gifri
- Cucumis carolinus J.H.Kirkbr.
- Cucumis cinereus (Cogn.) Ghebret. & Thulin
- Cucumis clavipetiolatus (J.H.Kirkbr.) Ghebret. & Thulin
- Cucumis costatus I.Telford
- Cucumis debilis W.J.de Wilde & Duyfjes
- Cucumis dipsaceus Ehrenb. ex Spach
- Cucumis engleri (Gilg) Ghebret. & Thulin
- Cucumis ficifolius A.Rich.
- Cucumis globosus C.Jeffrey
- Cucumis gracilis (Kurz) Ghebret. & Thulin
- Cucumis hastatus Thulin
- Cucumis heptadactylus Naudin
- Cucumis hirsutus Sond.
- Cucumis humifructus Stent (as Cucumis humofructus)
- Cucumis hystrix Chakrav.
- Cucumis indicus Ghebret. & Thulin
- Cucumis insignis C.Jeffrey
- Cucumis javanicus (Miq.) Ghebret. & Thulin
- Cucumis jeffreyanus Thulin
- Cucumis kalahariensis A.Meeuse
- Cucumis kelleri (Cogn.) Ghebret. & Thulin
- Cucumis kirkbridei Ghebret. & Thulin
- Cucumis leiospermus (Wight & Arn.) Ghebret. & Thulin
- Cucumis maderaspatanus L.
- Cucumis meeusei C.Jeffrey
- Cucumis melo L.
- Cucumis messorius (C.Jeffrey) Ghebret. & Thulin
- Cucumis metuliferus E.Mey. ex Naudin
- Cucumis myriocarpus Naudin
- Cucumis omissus Thulin
- Cucumis picrocarpus F.Muell.
- Cucumis prophetarum L.
- Cucumis pubituberculatus Thulin
- Cucumis pustulatus Naudin ex Hook.f.
- Cucumis queenslandicus I.Telford
- Cucumis quintanilhae R.Fern. & A.Fern.
- Cucumis reticulatus (A.Fern. & R.Fern.) Ghebret. & Thulin
- Cucumis rigidus E.Mey. ex Sond.
- Cucumis ritchiei (C.B.Clarke) Ghebret. & Thulin
- Cucumis rostratus J.H.Kirkbr.
- Cucumis rumphianus (Scheff.) H.Schaef.
- Cucumis sacleuxii Paill. & Bois
- Cucumis sagittatus Wawra & Peyr.
- Cucumis sativus L., cucumber
- Cucumis setosus Cogn.
- Cucumis silentvalleyi (Manilal, T.Sabu & P.Mathew) Ghebret. & Thulin
- Cucumis thulinianus J.H.Kirkbr.
- Cucumis umbellatus I.Telford
- Cucumis variabilis P.Sebastian & I.Telford
- Cucumis zambianus Widrl., J.H.Kirkbr., Ghebret. & K.R.Reitsma
- Cucumis zeyheri Sond.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Sebastian et al. (2010); Telford et al. (2011)
- ^ McLellan, Richard (30 November 2020). "Paddy Melon picking at Hamelin". Bush Heritage Australia. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
- ^ "Summer weeds". Agriculture and Food. Western Australia. Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development. 24 August 2020. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
- ^ "Cucumis L." Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 2022-10-01.
Further reading
edit- Ghebretinsae, A. G., Thulin, M. & Barber, J. C. (2007). Relationships of cucumbers and melons unraveled: molecular phylogenetics of Cucumis and related genera (Benincaseae, Cucurbitaceae). American Journal of Botany 94(7): 1256–1266.
- Renner, S. S., Schaefer, H. & Kocyan, A.; Schaefer, H; Kocyan, A (2007). "Phylogenetics of Cucumis (Cucurbitaceae): Cucumber (C. sativus) belongs in an Asian/Australian clade far from melon (C. melo)". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 7 (1): 58–69. Bibcode:2007BMCEE...7...58R. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-7-58. PMC 3225884. PMID 17425784.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Sebastian, P. M., H. Schaefer, I. R. H. Telford, and S. S. Renner. 2010. Cucumber and melon have their wild progenitors in India, and the sister species of Cucumis melo is from Australia" Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 107(32) 14269–14273 (online)
- Telford, I. R. H., P. M. Sebastian, J. J. Bruhl, and S. S. Renner. 2011. Cucumis (Cucurbitaceae) in Australia and eastern Malesia, including newly recognized species and the sister species to C. melo. Systematic Botany 36(2): 376-389 (online)
- Zhuang, Fei-Yun; Chen, Jin-Feng; Staub, Jack E.; Qian, Chun-Tao (2006). "Taxonomic Relationships of A Rare Cucumis Species (C. hystrix Chakr.) and Its Interspecific Hybrid with Cucumber". HortScience. 41 (3): 571–574. doi:10.21273/HORTSCI.41.3.571.