The Cucumber Family
What are they?
This family is well known for the array of fruits that it has provided us, the majority of which originate from the New World tropics. Cucumbers, melons, gourds and their relatives are all members of the Cucurbitaceae and can be generally distinguished by their large, oftem bristly, leaves, creeping or climbing stems (often with tendrils) and their large, fleshy fruits. Our one, native species is similar to the tropical species in its leaves, tendrils and scrambling stems, but its flowers are much smaller and its fruits are small, red berries.
Where are they found?
The native White Bryony is a widespread species of scrub, hedgerows and woodland edge. All other species are short-lived survivors from garden or allotment throw-outs and may be found growing on waste areas or on cultivated ground where their seeds may have found their way into manure.
Identification
White Bryony is easily identified by its combination of lobed leaves, stems with tendrils and greenish-cream flowers followed by red berries. Other species are all rather variable which can cause problems in telling them apart. The large, showy flowers and large, palmate leaves are distinctive but care needs to be taken in checking the shape of the flower/fruit stalks, the presence or absence of hairs on the fruits and stems and details of the fruits themselves. Several species are remarkably variable in their fruits and varieties of some species produce a number of different fruits that are used for different purposes, both culinary and ornamental or utilitarian. Note that the flowers of some species unfurl slowly, at first appearing to have very narrow, sharply pointed petals until they are fully open.
White Bryony Bryonia cretica subsp. dioica
Native. Common and widespread on all but the heaviest, clay soils in hedgerows, scrub and woodland edge. Flowers May to September. A perennial climber, dieing down in the autumn and growing anew from the rootstock each spring. Stems scrambling by means of corkscrew tendrils, with deeply lobed, palmate leaves. Male and female flowers appear on separate plants, the female flowers being smaller and eventually developing into red berries that have a matt finish.
Often confused with Black Bryony because of the red berries and similar name, but easily told from it by the presence of tendrils (Black Bryony climbs by twining the main stems.
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Culinary Cucumber Cucumis sativus
Introduced from tropical Asia and widely grown as a vegetable. Occasionally found where surviving as a garden throw-out or germinating from discarded seeds. Flowers May to September. Typically grows as a sprawling plant with unbranched tendrils bristly hairs on the stems. Female flowers solitary, 34-65cm in diameter, bright yellow or orange. Male flowers in clusters, but not present on many modern cultivars. Leaves five- to seven-lobed, typically with angled margins. Fruit usually green (sometimes with lighter stripes), smooth-skinned or with rough bumps and prickles.
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Marrow Cucurbita pepo
Introduced from tropical America and widely grown for a range of vegetables. Occasionally found where surviving as a garden throw-out or germinating from discarded seeds. Flowers July to September. Typically grows as a sprawling plant with branched tendrils and short prickles on the stems. Flowers 9-11cm in diameter, bright yellow or orange, their stems strongly five-ridged. Leaves highly variable, shallowly to deeply lobed, sometimes with pale blotches. Fruit remarkably variable and producing a wide range of marrows, courgettes, zucchinis, gourds and small pumpkins. Note that marrows are merely courgettes that have been left to grow larger, while courgette and zucchini are different words for the same fruit.
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Pumpkin Cucurbita maxima
Introduced from tropical America and occasionally grown as a vegetable. Only rarely found where surviving as a garden throw-out or germinating from discarded seeds. Flowers July to September. Typically grows as a sprawling plant with branched tendrils and short prickles plus a few hairs on the stems. Flowers 10-14cm in diameter, bright yellow or orange, their stems rounded and not strongly five-ridged. Leaves variable, but usually shallowly lobed to rounded. Fruit of pumpkin bright orange when ripe, often becoming very large and forced to produce giant specimens for competition. Other forms of edible and ornamental gourd are also grown and are cultivated forms of this species. They may have fruits in a wide variety of shapes and which may be orange, yellow, green, white, or a combination of these colours.
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Butternut Squash Cucurbita moschata
Introduced from tropical America and occasionally grown as a vegetable. No records currently in East Anglia, but becoming more widely grown on allotments and may turn up where surviving as a garden throw-out or germinating from discarded seeds. Flowers July to September. Typically grows as a sprawling plant with branched tendrils and short prickles plus a few hairs on the stems. Flowers 10-14cm in diameter, bright yellow or orange. Leaves variable, but usually shallowly lobed to rounded. Fruit very variable due to horticultural selection and, as well as the familiar Butternut Squash, this species has produced a number of other varieties of gourd, especially long-necked and pie forms. Fruits may be orange, yellow, green, white, or a combination of these colours.
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Cantaloupe Cucumis melo
Introduced from tropical America and occasionally grown for its fruit, but the UK weather typically struggles to ripen them successfully. Occasionally found where surviving as a garden throw-out or germinating from discarded seeds. Flowers July to September. Typically grows as a sprawling plant with unbranched tendrils and hairy stems. Flowers 2-3cm in diameter, yellow, the female flowers solitary, the males in small clusters. Leaves variable, but usually rounded to very shallowly lobed. Fruit variable but usually oval or globular and green or yellow in colour. Cantaloupe and Honeydew Melons come from this species.
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Water Melon Citrullus lanatus
Introduced from tropical America and occasionally grown for its fruit, but the UK weather typically struggles to ripen them successfully. Rarely found where surviving as a garden throw-out or germinating from discarded seeds. Flowers July to September. Typically grows as a sprawling plant with simple or branched tendrils and hairy stems. Flowers small, 0.5-1.7cm in diameter, light yellow, solitary. Leaves usually deeply cut into rounded lobed. Fruit large, oval and green or dark green with a few hairs when young.
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