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Cucurbitaceae
See list of 8 genera in this family-
1a. Ovary and fruit evidently prickly with narrow prickles [Figs. 601,602]; petals shorter than 1 cm; fruit 1.3–6 cm long
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2a. Petals yellow; fruit fleshy, with many seeds; leaf blades with deep, rounded sinuses (in part)
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2b. Petals white to green-white or green; fruit not fleshy, with 1 or 4 seeds; leaf blades with shallow sinuses or with moderately deep, V-shaped sinuses
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3a. Fruit inflated, 4-seeded, 3–5 cm long, solitary [Fig. 601], dehiscent by 2 apical pores; staminate corolla 6-merous; herbage glabrous or nearly so
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3b. Fruit not inflated, 1-seeded, 1.3–1.5 cm long, in clusters of 3–10 [Fig. 602], indehiscent; staminate corolla 5-merous; herbage conspicuously pubescent
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1b. Ovary and fruit smooth, verrucose, or with small prickles in longitudinal stripes; petals 1 cm long or longer; fruit 4–60 (–90) cm long
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4a. Staminate pedicels with a reniform to orbicular, foliaceous bract; fruits bluntly verrucose, splitting at maturity to reveal seeds with bright red arils
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4b. Staminate pedicels ebracteate; fruits smooth or with small prickles in longitudinal strips, not dehiscent, the seeds without red arils
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5a. Petals white; corolla rotate; fruit woody when mature
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5b. Petals yellow to orange-yellow; corolla campanulate, open-campanulate, or rotate; fruit fleshy when mature
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6a. Leaf blades pinnately lobed, the segments ± round at the apex; fruit exocarp green with irregular white or green-white stripes, the mesocarp red
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6b. Leaf blades simple or palmately lobed and then with angular or pointed segments; fruit exocarp green, blue, or orange, the mesocarp white, yellow, orange, tan, or green
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7a. Petals 5–10 cm long; anthers connivent; tendrils branched one or more times
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7b. Petals 1–3 cm long; anthers separate; tendrils simple
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8a. Corolla campanulate, the free portion of the petals connate ca. ½ their length; ovary and fruit short-pubescent; leaf blade irregularly dentate, but not lobed
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8b. Corolla open-campanulate, the free portion of the petals connate less than ½ their length; ovary and fruit spiny or roughened in longitudinal bands, but not pubescent (except in C. melo); leaf blades prominently to obscurely lobed (in part)
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Show photos of:
Each photo represents one genus in this family.