Jepson Herbarium
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Annual, perennial herb; hairs often hard from calcium deposits; generally monoecious.
Stem: trailing or climbing, 1–many; tendril generally 1 per node, often branched.
Leaf: generally simple, alternate, generally palmate-lobed and -veined, petioled; stipules 0.
Inflorescence: at nodes; staminate flowers in racemes, panicles, small clusters, (or 1); pistillate flowers generally 1.
Flower: unisexual [ bisexual], radial; hypanthium > ovary; calyx generally 5-lobed (or ± 0); corolla rotate to cup- or bell-shaped, generally 5-lobed; stamens 3–5 (or ± 1–3 from fusion), anthers twisted together, often > filaments; ovary ± inferior, chambers 3–5, placentas parietal, styles 1–3, stigmas generally lobed, large.
Fruit: berry, drying or not, or capsule, irregularly dehiscent, often gourd- or melon-like.
Seed: 1–many.
100 genera, 700 species: especially tropics; some cultivated (Citrullus, watermelon; Cucumis, cucumber; Cucurbita, gourd, pumpkin, squash; Luffa, loofah; Sechium, chayote). [Schaefer et al. 2009 Proc Roy Soc London Ser B, Biol Sci 276:843–851] Several cult species included Bryonia dioica reported as waifs in CA (Howell 1958 Wasmann J Biol 16:1–157), but none recently. —Scientific Editors: Douglas H. Goldman, Bruce G. Baldwin.
Unabridged references: [Jeffrey 1990 An outline classification of the Cucurbitaceae, In: Bates, Robinson, and Jeffrey (eds.), Biology and Utilization of the Cucurbitaceae 17:449–463, Cornell Univ Press, Ithaca, NY; Kocyan et al. 2007 Molec Phylogen Evol 44:553–577; Lira, Rodriguez-Jimenez, Alvarado, Rodriguez, Castrejon, Dominguez-Mariani 1998 Acta Bot Mex 42: 43–77; McVaugh 2001 Cucurbitaceae In W.R. Anderson (ed), Flora Novo-Galiciana 3:483–652, Univ Michigan Herbarium, Ann Arbor, Michigan; Schaefer et al. 2008 Syst Bot 33:125–132]

Key to Cucurbitaceae

Annual.
Stem: generally scabrous; tendril unbranched.
Leaf: angular to ± palmately lobed; 1° lobes ± entire to irregularly lobed.
Inflorescence: staminate flowers 1–several per node; pistillate flowers generally 1, at different nodes.
Flower: corolla 2–3 cm wide, rotate or shallowly cup-shaped, yellow, deeply 5-lobed, fused part < 1 cm; anthers 3, free; stigmas 3–5, ± reniform.
Fruit: gourd- or melon-like, indehiscent, cylindric to spheric; rind firm, net-veined, prickles 0 or weak; pulp green-white to orange.
Seed: many, < 1 cm, ± flat; margin smooth.
± 40 species: Africa, s Asia. (Greek: cucumber) [Renner et al. 2007 BMC Evol Biol 7:58–69]
Unabridged references: [Schaefer 2007 Blumea 52:165–177; Ghebretinsae et al. 2007 Amer J Bot 94:1256–1266; McVaugh 2001 Cucumis In W.R. Anderson (ed), Flora Novo-Galiciana 3:504–509, Univ Michigan Herbarium, Ann Arbor, Michigan; Kirkbride 1993 Biosystematic Monograph of the Genus Cucumis (Cucurbitaceae), Parkway Publishers, Boone, North Carolina]

Fruit: ± spheric, yellow-green, green-striped.
2n=24. Fields, disturbed areas; < 300 m. s Outer South Coast Ranges (Santa Barbara Co.);

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Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) [year] Jepson eFlora, http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/IJM.html [accessed on month, day, year]
Citation for an individual treatment: [Author of taxon treatment] [year]. [Taxon name] in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, [URL for treatment]. Accessed on [month, day, year].

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Bioregions in which taxon occurs	Red area (if present) is the part of the bioregion lying between the upper and lower elevation limits of the taxon; markers link to CCH specimen records. If the markers are obscured, reload the page [or change window size and reload]. Yellow markers indicate records that may have georeferencing or identification issues.
Chart based on elevation range in Manual and elevations and coordinates of CCH records. Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria. Note: About half of the CCH records include both elevation and coordinates.	Map made in collaboration with Scott Loarie. Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria. View all CCH records   CCH collections by month Duplicates counted once; synonyms included. Species do not include records of infraspecific taxa. Blue line denotes Manual flowering time.