66 - Cucurbitaceae
from Division 5 - Magnoliophyta
Summary
Monoecious or dioecious annual or perennial herbs, often fleshy and bristly, usually with tendrils. Leaves alternate. Flowers unisexual, racemose, clustered or solitary. Calyx normally 5-lobed; rarely sepals free. Corolla normally 5-lobed, yellow or white. Stamens 5, often reduced to 3, two double and one single; anthers twisted or contorted. Ovary inferior; carpels united, usually 1–3 celled; placentation parietal. Stigmas as many as carpels. Fruit normally a fleshy, indehiscent berry, sometimes of considerable size; seeds usually numerous.
Contains about 120 genera and 800 species, cosmopolitan but mainly in tropical and warm temperate areas.
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- Information
- Flora of Great Britain and Ireland , pp. 611 - 616Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2018