Cucumis

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Rosids
Cladus: Eurosids I
Ordo: Cucurbitales

Familia: Cucurbitaceae
Tribus: Benincaseae
Genus: Cucumis
Subgenera: C. subg. Cucumis – C. subg. Humifructus
Species: C. aculeatus – C. aetheocarpus – C. africanus – C. althaeoides – C. anguria – C. argenteus – C. asper – C. baladensis – C. bryoniifolius – C. callosus – C. canoxyi – C. carolinus – C. cinereus – C. clavipetiolatus – C. costatus – C. debilis – C. dipsaceus – C. engleri – C. ficifolius – C. globosus – C. gracilis – C. hastatus – C. heptadactylus – C. hirsutus – C. humifructus – C. hystrix – C. indicus – C. insignis – C. javanicus – C. jeffreyanus – C. kalahariensis – C. kelleri – C. kirkbridei – C. leiospermus – C. maderaspatanus – C. meeusei – C. melo – C. messorius – C. metulifer – C. metuliferus – C. myriocarpus – C. omissus – C. picrocarpus – C. prolatior – C. prophetarum – C. pubituberculatus – C. pustulatus – C. queenslandicus – C. quintanilhae – C. reticulatus – C. rigidus – C. ritchiei – C. rostratus – C. rumphianus – C. sacleuxii – C. sagittatus – C. sativus – C. silentvalleyi – C. thulinianus – C. umbellatus – C. variabilis – C. zambianus – C. zeyheri

C. anguria - - C. dipsaceus - C. ficifolius - C. melo - - C. sativus

Name

Cucumis L., Sp. Pl. 2: 1011 (1753); Gen Pl., ed. 5: 442 (1754).

Lectotype species: Cucumis sativus L., Sp. Pl. 2: 1012 (1753), designated by N.L. Britton & P. Wilson, Scient. Surv. Porto Rico 6: 264. 31 Aug 1925, supported by M.L. Green, Prop. Brit. Bot. 190. Aug 1929.

Synonyms

Heterotypic
Cucumella Chiov., Fl. Somala 1: 183. (1929).
Dicoelospermum C.B.Clarke, Fl. Brit. India (J.D.Hooker) 2(6): 605, 630. (1879).
Dicaelosperma E.G.O.Müll. & Pax, orth. var.
Dicaelospermum C.B.Clarke, orth. var.
Hymenosicyos Chiov., Ann. Bot. (Rome) 9: 62. (1911).
Melo Mill., Gard. Dict. Abr., ed. 4. (1754).
Mukia Arn., Madras J. Lit. Sci. 12: 50. (1840).
Myrmecosicyos C.Jeffrey, Kew Bull. 15: 357. (1962).
Oreosyce Hook.f., Fl. Trop. Afr. (Oliver & al.) 2: 548. (1871) except O. africana

References
Primary references

Linnaeus, C. 1753. Species Plantarum. Tomus II: 1011. Reference page.
Linnaeus, C. 1754. Genera Plantarum, ed. 5: 442. Reference page.

Additional references

Ghebretinsae, A.G., Thulin, M. & Barber, J.C. 2007. Nomenclatural Changes in Cucumis (Cucurbitaceae). Novon 17(2): 176–178. DOI: 10.3417/1055-3177(2007)17[176:NCICC]2.0.CO;2 JSTOR BHL Reference page.
Renner, S.S. & Schaefer, H. 2008. Phylogenetics of Cucumis (Cucurbitaceae) as understood in 2008. Proceedings of the IXth EUCARPIA meeting on genetics and breeding of Cucurbitaceae. INRA, Avignon, France, 21-24 May, 2008: 53–58. PDF Reference page.
Schaefer, H. 2007. Cucumis (Cucurbitaceae) must include Cucumella, Dicoelospermum, Mukia, Myrmecosicyos, and Oreosyce: a recircumscription based on nuclear and plastid DNA data. Blumea 52(1): 165–177. DOI: 10.3767/000651907X612427Open access ResearchGate Reference page.
Telford, I.R.H., Schaefer, H., Greuter, W. & Renner, S.S. 2011. A new Australian species of Luffa (Cucurbitaceae) and typification of two Australian Cucumis names, all based on specimens collected by Ferdinand Mueller in 1856. PhytoKeys 5: 21–29. DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.5.1395. Reference page. . Refers to Cucumis picrocarpus
Telford, I.R.H., Sebastian, P., Bruhl, J.J. & Renner, S.S. 2011. Cucumis (Cucurbitaceae) in Australia and eastern Malesia, including newly recognized species and the sister species to C. melo. Systematic Botany 36(2): 376–389 DOI: 10.1600/036364411X569561 BioOne ResearchGate Reference page.
Thulin, M., Heidari, N. Larsson, A. 2018. Cucumis omissus sp. nov. (Cucurbitaceae) from southern Arabia and Ethiopia and its phylogenetic position. Nordic Journal of Botany 36(10): p.e02056. DOI: 10.1111/njb.02056 Paywall. Reference page.

Links

Farr, E.R. & Zijlstra, G. (eds.) 1996 onwards. Cucumis in Index Nominum Genericorum (Plantarum). Accessed: 2020 Apr 15.
Govaerts, R. et al. 2020. Cucumis in Kew Science Plants of the World Online. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published online. Accessed: 2020 Apr 15. Reference page.
Hassler, M. 2020. Cucumis. World Plants: Synonymic Checklists of the Vascular Plants of the World In: Roskovh, Y., Abucay, L., Orrell, T., Nicolson, D., Bailly, N., Kirk, P., Bourgoin, T., DeWalt, R.E., Decock, W., De Wever, A., Nieukerken, E. van, Zarucchi, J. & Penev, L., eds. 2020. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life. Published online. Accessed: 2020 Apr 15. Reference page.
Tropicos.org 2014. Cucumis. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published online. Accessed: 26 Aug 2014.
International Plant Names Index. 2014. Cucumis. Published online. Accessed: Aug 26 2014. Reference page.

Vernacular names
Afrikaans: Wildekomkommers
العربية: قثد
azərbaycanca: Xiyar
беларуская: Агурок
বাংলা: শশা
dansk: Agurk
Deutsch: Gurken
dolnoserbski: Górka
English: Cucumber, Gerkin, Zucchini
eesti: Kurk
suomi: Kurkut
Nordfriisk: Gurken
hornjoserbsce: Kórka
日本語: キュウリ属
한국어: 오이속
lietuvių: Agurkas
latviešu: gurķi
norsk: Agurker
polski: Ogórek
svenska: Gurksläktet
తెలుగు: కుకుమిస్
中文: 甜瓜属

Cucumis is a genus of twining, tendril-bearing plants in the family Cucurbitaceae which includes the cucumber (Cucumis sativus), true melons (Cucumis melo, including cantaloupe and honeydew), the horned melon (Cucumis metuliferus), and the West Indian gherkin (Cucumis anguria).

30 species occur in Africa, and 25 occur in India, Southeast Asia, and Australia.[1] However, Cucumis myriocarpus was introduced to Australia from Sub-Saharan Africa, and is regarded as an invasive species.[2][3]
Species

As of October 2022, Plants of the World Online accepted 61 species:[4]

Cucumis aculeatus Cogn.
Cucumis aetheocarpus (C.Jeffrey) Ghebret. & Thulin
Cucumis africanus L.f.
Cucumis althaeoides (Ser.) P.Sebastian & I.Telford
Cucumis anguria L.
Cucumis argenteus (Domin) P.Sebastian & I.Telford
Cucumis asper Cogn.
Cucumis baladensis Thulin
Cucumis bryoniifolius (Merxm.) Ghebret. & Thulin
Cucumis canoxyi Thulin & Al-Gifri
Cucumis carolinus J.H.Kirkbr.
Cucumis cinereus (Cogn.) Ghebret. & Thulin
Cucumis clavipetiolatus (J.H.Kirkbr.) Ghebret. & Thulin
Cucumis costatus I.Telford
Cucumis debilis W.J.de Wilde & Duyfjes
Cucumis dipsaceus Ehrenb. ex Spach
Cucumis engleri (Gilg) Ghebret. & Thulin
Cucumis ficifolius A.Rich.
Cucumis globosus C.Jeffrey
Cucumis gracilis (Kurz) Ghebret. & Thulin
Cucumis hastatus Thulin
Cucumis heptadactylus Naudin
Cucumis hirsutus Sond.
Cucumis humifructus Stent (as Cucumis humofructus)
Cucumis hystrix Chakrav.
Cucumis indicus Ghebret. & Thulin
Cucumis insignis C.Jeffrey
Cucumis javanicus (Miq.) Ghebret. & Thulin
Cucumis jeffreyanus Thulin
Cucumis kalahariensis A.Meeuse
Cucumis kelleri (Cogn.) Ghebret. & Thulin
Cucumis kirkbridei Ghebret. & Thulin
Cucumis leiospermus (Wight & Arn.) Ghebret. & Thulin
Cucumis maderaspatanus L.
Cucumis meeusei C.Jeffrey
Cucumis melo L.
Cucumis messorius (C.Jeffrey) Ghebret. & Thulin
Cucumis metuliferus E.Mey. ex Naudin
Cucumis myriocarpus Naudin
Cucumis omissus Thulin
Cucumis picrocarpus F.Muell.
Cucumis prophetarum L.
Cucumis pubituberculatus Thulin
Cucumis pustulatus Naudin ex Hook.f.
Cucumis queenslandicus I.Telford
Cucumis quintanilhae R.Fern. & A.Fern.
Cucumis reticulatus (A.Fern. & R.Fern.) Ghebret. & Thulin
Cucumis rigidus E.Mey. ex Sond.
Cucumis ritchiei (C.B.Clarke) Ghebret. & Thulin
Cucumis rostratus J.H.Kirkbr.
Cucumis rumphianus (Scheff.) H.Schaef.
Cucumis sacleuxii Paill. & Bois
Cucumis sagittatus Wawra & Peyr.
Cucumis sativus L., cucumber
Cucumis setosus Cogn.
Cucumis silentvalleyi (Manilal, T.Sabu & P.Mathew) Ghebret. & Thulin
Cucumis thulinianus J.H.Kirkbr.
Cucumis umbellatus I.Telford
Cucumis variabilis P.Sebastian & I.Telford
Cucumis zambianus Widrl., J.H.Kirkbr., Ghebret. & K.R.Reitsma
Cucumis zeyheri Sond.

See also

Bailan melon
Galia melon
Gaya melon
Hami melon
Korean melon
Santa Claus melon
Sugar melon
Winter melon

References

Sebastian et al. (2010); Telford et al. (2011)
McLellan, Richard (30 November 2020). "Paddy Melon picking at Hamelin". Bush Heritage Australia. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
"Summer weeds". Agriculture and Food. Western Australia. Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development. 24 August 2020. Retrieved 31 July 2021.

"Cucumis L." Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 2022-10-01.

Further reading
Ghebretinsae, A. G., Thulin, M. & Barber, J. C. (2007). Relationships of cucumbers and melons unraveled: molecular phylogenetics of Cucumis and related genera (Benincaseae, Cucurbitaceae). American Journal of Botany 94(7): 1256–1266.
Renner, S. S., Schaefer, H. & Kocyan, A.; Schaefer, H; Kocyan, A (2007). "Phylogenetics of Cucumis (Cucurbitaceae): Cucumber (C. sativus) belongs in an Asian/Australian clade far from melon (C. melo)". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 7 (1): 58–69. Bibcode:2007BMCEE...7...58R. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-7-58. PMC 3225884. PMID 17425784.
Sebastian, P. M., H. Schaefer, I. R. H. Telford, and S. S. Renner. 2010. Cucumber and melon have their wild progenitors in India, and the sister species of Cucumis melo is from Australia" Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 107(32) 14269–14273 (online)
Telford, I. R. H., P. M. Sebastian, J. J. Bruhl, and S. S. Renner. 2011. Cucumis (Cucurbitaceae) in Australia and eastern Malesia, including newly recognized species and the sister species to C. melo. Systematic Botany 36(2): 376-389 (online)
Zhuang, Fei-Yun; Chen, Jin-Feng; Staub, Jack E.; Qian, Chun-Tao (2006). "Taxonomic Relationships of A Rare Cucumis Species (C. hystrix Chakr.) and Its Interspecific Hybrid with Cucumber". HortScience. 41 (3): 571–574. doi:10.21273/HORTSCI.41.3.571.