Cyclanthera
| Cyclanthera | ||||||||||||
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Caigua ( Cyclanthera pedata ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Cyclanthera | ||||||||||||
| Schrad. |
Cyclanthera is a genus of the cucurbit family (Cucurbitaceae) that is native to Central and South America. Three types are used as vegetables: Caigua ( Cyclanthera pedata ), the exploding cucumber ( Cyclanthera brachystachya ) and Cyclanthera brachybotrys .
features
The representatives are annual to perennial herbaceous plants . They grow liana-like and form tendrils . The shoot axes have 5 to 10 longitudinal furrows. The leaves are stalked and lobed 3 to 5 times, single or foot-shaped. At the base of the leaf glands may be located or absent.
The plants are monoecious . The male flowers are in clusters or narrow panicles that arise in the axils of the leaves. The chalice is cup-shaped and five-lobed. The crown is greenish-yellow to white and also five-lobed. It has a stamen , the anther of which forms a ring-like, unfolded ring. The theka opens unilocularly. The female flowers stand individually or in small numbers also in leaf axils, but are larger than the male. The ovary is egg-shaped, consists of 1 to 3 carpels . The individual stylus bears an almost spherical scar .
The fruit is egg-shaped and often prickly. Some species have closing fruits, but in most species the fruit opens explosively and so ejects the seeds. The few to many seeds are egg-shaped to angular and flattened. The seed coat is wrinkled to smooth.
distribution
The genus occurs from the south of the USA to Argentina.
Systematics
The genus is now placed within the cucurbits in the tribe Sicyeae, Subtribus Cyclantherinae.
The genus includes 25 to 30 species.
The species found in Central America are:
- Cyclanthera brachystachya (Ser.) Cogn.
- Cyclanthera cogniauxii C.E. Jones & Kearns
- Cyclanthera dioscoreoides C.E. Jones & Kearns
- Cyclanthera dissecta (Torr. & A. Gray) Arn.
- Cyclanthera dressleri Wunderlin
- Cyclanthera entata C.E. Jones & Kearns
- Cyclanthera integrifoliola Cogn.
- Cyclanthera langaei Cogn.
- Cyclanthera leptostachya Benth.
- Cyclanthera multifoliola Cogn.
- Cyclanthera pedata (L.) Schrad.
- Cyclanthera ribiflora (Schltdl.) Cogn.
- Cyclanthera steyermarkii Standl.
- Cyclanthera tamnoides (Willd.) Cogn.
- Cyclanthera tenuisepala Cogn.
literature
- Rafael Lira Saade: Cyclanthera . In: Flora Mesoamericana , accessed on January 5, 2009.
- Richard P. Wunderlin: Flora of Panama, Part IX, Family 182: Cucurbitaceae. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, Vol. 65, 1978, pp. 285-368.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Alexander Kocyan, Li-Bing Zhang, Hanno Schaefer, Susanne S. Renner: A multi-locus chloroplast phylogeny for the Cucurbitaceae and its implications for character evolution and classification . Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Volume 44, August 2007, pp. 553-577. doi : 10.1016 / j.ympev.2006.12.022 , full text (systematics; PDF; 381 kB)
- ↑ Species key of the Flora Mesoamericana , accessed on January 5, 2009.