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, perennial herb, from large, fleshy, tuber-like root.
Stem: glabrous to scabrous; tendril branched or not.
Leaf: lanceolate to round, entire to deeply lobed.
Inflorescence: flowers 1 per node, staminate, pistillate at different nodes.
Flower: corolla > 2 cm wide ( staminate generally < pistillate), deeply cup-shaped, yellow to orange, fused part 4–12 cm, lobes generally recurved; stigmas 3, 2-lobed.
Fruit: spheric to oblong, indehiscent; rind firm, smooth to rough or grooved.
Seed: many, < 20 mm, ± ovate, ± flat; margin thick or raised.
12–14 species: Am. (Latin: gourd) [Sanjur et al. 2002 Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 99:535–540]
Unabridged references: [Montes-Hernandez & Eguiarte 2002 Amer J Bot 89:1156–1163; McVaugh 2001 Cucurbita In W.R. Anderson (ed), Flora Novo-Galiciana 3:510–529, Univ Michigan Herbarium, Ann Arbor, Michigan; Decker 1988 Econ Bot 42:4–15]

Herbage ± scabrous; tendril branched ± from base.
Leaf: 3–9 cm, palmately lobed, green, main veins lighter, lobes generally 5, free ± to petiole, ± lance- linear.
Flower: corolla 3–5 cm, yellow.
Fruit: 7–8 cm wide, spheric to oblong, dark green, ± mottled, with several narrow, ± white stripes.
Seed: 10–11 mm, white.
2n=40. Uncommon. Sandy, open or shrubby places; < 1200 m. South Coast, Peninsular Ranges, Sonoran Desert;

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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	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 provide evidence for eFlora range revision or 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.	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.