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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.Sebastian et al. (2010); Telford et al. (2011) However, Cucumis myriocarpus was introduced to Australia from Sub-Saharan Africa, and is regarded as an invasive species.
Species , Plants of the World Online accepted 61 species:
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
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.
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)
External links Multilingual taxonomic information at the University of Melbourne