Name: Cucurbitaceae
Meaning of Name:
Cucurbitaceae, from Latin cucurbita (‘gourd’) + Latin -āceae (the feminine plural of -āceus, ‘resembling’, a suffix used to form the taxonomic family names of plants, algae, bacteria, and fungi)
Common Names:
The gourd family, the curcubits
Botanical Information:
Cucurbitaceae, or the gourd family, contains 101 genera and around 965 species. This family is one of the highest ranked for number of food species, which include many melon, bitter melon, pumpkin, squash, cucumber, and zucchini cultivars. Also in this family are the loofha and the ornamental bottle gourds.
Most species in this family are annual vines, though some are herbaceous perennial vines and still others are woody climbers, thorny shrubs, and even trees.
The genus Curcubita is the type genus, or the one which defines a biological family and which gives the family its name. Curcubita species are the pumpkins, squashes, and some gourds. The bottle gourds are not included as these are genus Lagenaria.
Nowadays the Cucurbitaceae family is defined phylogenetically by fifteen tribes — tribes sit above genus and below family and subfamily.
The photo chosen to illustrate this family is of a pumpkin hybrid (Curcubita sp.).
Image copyright © Optimate Group Pty Ltd
