Flora of New York/Cucurbitales

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The order Cucurbitales is part of the nitrogen-fixing clade:

nitrogen‑fixing clade

Fabales

Rosales

	Cucurbitales

	Fagales

The Cucurbitales is primarily a tropical order of pants^[1] and contains fewer than a dozen species known to grow in the wild in New York. All of these species are in the family Cucurbitaceae, and only two of them are considered native to New York State. The remainder have been known to escape from cultivation in the state, but none of them appear to persist for long.^[2]

↑ P. F. Stevens (2001-2015). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 14, April 2015
↑ Cucurbitaceae Troy Weldy & David Werier (2013) New York Flora Atlas. New York Flora Association, Albany, New York.

Clade	Order	Family	Tribe	Genus	Common names	#
rosids: fabids	Cucurbitales	Cucurbitaceae	Thladiantheae	Thladiantha	Manchu tubergourd	1
			Bryonieae	Ecballium	squirting-cucumber	1
			Sicyoeae	Echinocystis	wild cucumber	1
			Sicyoeae	Sicyos	burr cucumber	1
			Benincaseae	Citrullus	watermelon	1
				Cucumis	melon	3
				Lagenaria	bottle gourd	1
			Cucurbiteae	Cucurbita	squash, pumpkin	1

Family Cucurbitaceae

The tribe names and their membership used here for the Cucurbitaceae (gourd family) are from Schaefer & Renner (2011).^[1]

↑ Hanno Schaefer & Susanne S. Renner (2011). "Phylogenetic relationships in the order Cucurbitales and a new classification of the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae)." TAXON 60(1): 122–138.

Tribe Sicyoeae

Echinocystis

Echinocystis (wild cucumber) is a monotypic genus

Cucurbitaceae — Sicyoeae — Echinocystis
Genus Echinocystis	Wild cucumber	N.Y. Status	Images	Distribution	NY NPT
Echinocystis lobata (Michx.) Torr. & A.Gray 1793. Momordica echinata Muhl. 1803. Sicyos lobatus Michx. 1805. Momordica echinata Muhl. ex Willd. 1840. Hexameria echinata (Muhl. ex Willd.) Torr. & A.Gray 1840. Echinocystis lobata (Michx.) Torr. & A.Gray 1888. Echinocystis echinata (Muhl. ex Willd.) Britton, Sterns & Poggenb. 1890. Micrampelis lobata (Michx.) Greene 1957. Echinocystis echinata (Muhl.) Vassilcz.	Wild cucumber, Prickly cucumber, Wild balsam-apple, Wild mock-cucumber Concombre grimpant, Concombre sauvage, Échinocyste lobé, Échinocystis lobé	Native, CoC: 3, Secure, S5 FACW-FAC Annual, Herb-vine		NYFA: 5 GBIF	USDA-NN COL POWO Go Botany VASCAN ARS-GRIN ITIS FNA Tropicos Images Wikispecies

Sicyos

Four Sicyos species (burr cucumbers) are known to grow in North America, north of Mexico. Of these, only Sicyos angulatus (one-seed burr cucumber) is prevalent in the east, including New York State. The other species (S. glaber, S. laciniatus, and S. microphyllus) are found in Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.^[1]

↑ Nesom, G.L. 2011. Taxonomy of Sicyos (Cucurbitaceae) in the USA. Phytoneuron 2011-15: 1–11.

Cucurbitaceae — Sicyoeae — Sicyos
Genus Sicyos	Burr cucumber	N.Y. Status	Images	Distribution	NY NPT
Sicyos angulatus L. 1753. Sicyos angulatus L. 1767. Elaterium trifoliatum L. 1789. Sicyoides angulata (L.) Medik. 1794. Sicyoides angulata (L.) Moench 1808. Micrampelis echinata Raf. 1815. Sicyos acutus Raf. 1867. Sicyos schimperi Naudin 1979. Sicyos angulatus f. ohtanus Asai	One-seeded burr-cucumber Oneseed burr cucumber Angled burr cucumber Wall burr cucumber Burr cucumber Bur cucumber Star cucumber Sicyos anguleux	Native, CoC: 5, Secure, S5 FACW-FACU Annual, Herb-vine		NYFA: 5 iNat GBIF	USDA-NN COL POWO Go Botany VASCAN ARS-GRIN ITIS FNA Tropicos Images Wikispecies

Tribe Benincaseae

Citrullus

Cucurbitaceae — Benincaseae — Citrullus
Genus Citrullus	Watermelon	N.Y. Status	Images	Distribution	NY NPT
Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai ssp. lanatus 1836. Citrullus vulgaris Schrad. 1882. Citrullus citrullus (L.) Karst. 1916. Citrullus lanatus Matsum.& Nakai	Watermelon, Wild watermelon Pastèque, Melon d'eau	Introduced from Africa, Impersistent, Not naturalized UPL Annual, Herb-vine		NYFA: Xm	USDA-XX Go Botany VASCAN ARS-GRIN ITIS BONAP Images Wikispecies
Genus Citrullus (excluded taxa)	Watermelon	N.Y. Status	Images	Distribution	NY NPT
Citrullus colocynthis (L.) Schrad. 1753. Cucumis colocynthis L. 1768. Anguria citrullus Mill. 1833. Colocynthis vulgaris Schrad. 1838. Citrullus colocynthis (L.) Schrad.	Colocynth, Bitter apple, Bitter cucumber, Egusi, Vine of Sodom	Introduced from Eurasia, Africa, Impersistent Annual, Herb-vine		NYFA-Excluded	USDA-X0 Go Botany-0 VASCAN ARS-GRIN ITIS BONAP Images Wikispecies

Cucumis

The genus Cucumis contains cucumbers (Cucumis sativus), West Indian gherkins (Cucumis anguria), and melons (Cucumis melo).

Cucurbitaceae — Benincaseae — Cucumis
Genus Cucumis	Melon	N.Y. Status	Images	Distribution	NY NPT
Cucumis sativus L. var. sativus 1753. Cucumis sativus L. 1775. Cucumis sativus var. battich-djebbal Forssk. 1796. Cucumis esculentus Salisb.	Cucumber ⓘ	Introduced from southern Asia, Impersistent Annual, Herb-vine		NYFA: X	USDA-XW POWO Go Botany FNA Images Wikispecies
Cucumis anguria L. var. anguria	West Indian cucumber, West Indian gherkin	Introduced, Impersistent		NYFA: X	USDA-XX Images Wikispecies
Cucumis melo L. ssp. melo	Cantaloupe Honeydew melon Musk melon Sweet melon	Introduced, Impersistent		NYFA: X NYFA: Chemung, Richmond ? counties	USDA-XW Images Wikispecies

Lagenaria

Cucurbitaceae — Benincaseae — Lagenaria
Genus Lagenaria	Gourd	N.Y. Status	Images	Distribution	NY NPT
Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) Standl. 1753. Cucurbita lagenaria L. 1782. Cucurbita siceraria Molina 1794. Pepo lagenarius Moench 1825. Lagenaria vulgaris Ser. 1827. Cucumis lagenaria (L.) Dumort. 1896. Lagenaria leucantha Rusby (nom. superfl.) 1930. Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) Standl.	Bottle gourd Calabash White-flowered gourd	Introduced, Impersistent Annual, Herb-vine		NYFA-Excluded NYFA: Excluded ? counties	USDA-XX Go Botany Images Wikispecies

Tribe Cucurbiteae

Cucurbita

Cucurbitaceae — Cucurbiteae — Cucurbita
Genus Cucurbita	Gourd	N.Y. Status	Images	Distribution	NY NPT
Cucurbita pepo L. 1753. Cucurbita pepo L. 1794. Pepo vulgaris Moench 1805. Cucurbita aurantia Willd. 1827. Cucumis pepo (L.) Dumort. 1838. Pepo aurantius (Willd.) Peterm. 1840. Cucumis zapallo Steud. 1846. Citrullus variegatus Schrad. ex M.Roem.	Field pumpkin	Introduced, Impersistent		NYFA: X GBIF	USDA-MW COL POWO FNA Images Wikispecies

Tribe Thladiantheae

Thladiantha

Mitchell (1997)^[1] lists Thladiantha dubia (Manchu tubergourd) as naturalized in New York.

The only vouchered specimen listed in the New York Flora Atlas is from St. Lawrence County in 1981.^[2]

Cucurbitaceae — Thladiantheae — Thladiantha
Genus Thladiantha Bunge	Thladiantha	N.Y. Status	Images	Distribution	NY NPT
Thladiantha dubia Bunge 1833. Thladiantha dubia Bunge	Manchu tubergourd, Goldencreeper, Wild potato, Red-hailstone Thladianthe douteuse	Introduced from China, Korea, No specimens		NYFA: X NYFA: St. Lawrence No RG observations	USDA-XX Go Botany VASCAN ARS-GRIN Tropicos Images Wikispecies

Tribe Bryonieae

Ecballium

Squirting cucumber (Ecballium elaterium) is the sole species of its genus.

Guy L. Nesom (2020) conjectured that "some, perhaps all, collections of Ecballium from New York and Pennsylvania may represent garden curiosities rather than escaped or established populations."^[1]

↑ Guy L. Nesom (2020). Ecballium elaterium in FNA Volume 6. Page 11. Flora of North America Association. 5 Nov. 2020.

Cucurbitaceae — Bryonieae — Ecballium
Genus Ecballium A.Rich.	Squirting-cucumber	N.Y. Status	Images	Distribution	NY NPT
Ecballium elaterium (L.) A.Rich. ssp. elaterium 1753. Momordica elaterium L. 1766. Momordica officinarum-elaterium Crantz 1824. Ecballium elaterium (L.) A.Rich. 1831. Ecballium agreste Rchb. (nom. superfl.) 1904. Bryonia elaterium (L.) E.H.L.Krause	Squirting cucumber, Exploding cucumber Momordique	Introduced from Eurasia, northern Africa, Impersistent		NYFA: X NYFA: Queens (1879) iNat GBIF No NY observations	USDA-X0 POWO ARS-GRIN FNA Images Wikispecies

[1] P. F. Stevens (2001-2015). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 14, April 2015

[2] Cucurbitaceae Troy Weldy & David Werier (2013) New York Flora Atlas. New York Flora Association, Albany, New York.

[3] Hanno Schaefer & Susanne S. Renner (2011). "Phylogenetic relationships in the order Cucurbitales and a new classification of the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae)." TAXON 60(1): 122–138.

[4] Nesom, G.L. 2011. Taxonomy of Sicyos (Cucurbitaceae) in the USA. Phytoneuron 2011-15: 1–11.

[5] Richard S. Mitchell (ed.) (1997). A checklist of New York State plants. Contributions of a Flora of New York State, Checklist IV. New York State Bulletin No. 490. Page 86. New York State Museum, Albany.

[6] Werier, David, Kyle Webster, Troy Weldy, Andrew Nelson, Richard Mitchell†, and Robert Ingalls†. 2023 New York Flora Atlas. New York Flora Association, Albany, New York.

[7] Guy L. Nesom (2020). Ecballium elaterium in FNA Volume 6. Page 11. Flora of North America Association. 5 Nov. 2020.

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