Cucurbitales Cucurbitales Cyperales Category="Cucurbitales"
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Cucurbitales
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Plantae
Division:Magnoliophyta
Class:Magnoliopsida
Order:Cucurbitales Dumort. (1829)
Families
  • Datiscaceae
  • Tetramelaceae
  • Corynocarpaceae
  • Anisophylleaceae

The Cucurbitales are an order of flowering plants, included in the rosid group of dicotyledons. This order mostly belongs to tropical areas, with limited presence in subtropic and temperate regions. The order includes various shrubs and trees, together with many herbs and climbers. One of major characteristics of the Cucurbitales is the presence of unisexual flowers, mostly pentacyclic, with thick pointed petals (whenever present) (Matthews and Endress, 2004). The pollination is usually performed by insects, but anemophily is also present (in Coriariaceae and Datiscaceae).

The order consists of roughly 1600 species in seven families. The largest families are Begoniaceae with 920 species and Cucurbitaceae with 640 species.

The large families of Cucurbitales include several economically important plants. Specifically, the Cucurbitaceae are responsible for some food species, such as squash, Pumpkin (both from Cucurbita), Watermelon (Citrullus vulgaris), Melon and Cucumber (both Cucumis). The Begoniaceae are known for their horticultural species, of which there are over 130.

Classification

Under the older Cronquist system, the first four families were placed in the order Violales, within the Dilleniidae, with the Tetramelaceae subsumed within the Datiscaceae. The other families were distributed throughout various orders. The present classification is due to APG II (2003).

References