The Cucurbitaceae, also called cucurbits or the gourd family, are a plant family consisting of about 965 species in around 95 genera. Those most important to humans are the following:
Cucurbita – squash, pumpkin, zucchini or courgette, some gourdsLagenaria – calabash, and others that are inedibleCitrullus – watermelon (C. lanatus, C. colocynthis) and othersCucumis – cucumber (C. sativus), various melons and vinesMomordica – bitter melonLuffa – the common name is also luffa, sometimes spelled loofah (when fully ripened, two species of this fibrous fruit are the source of the loofah scrubbing sponge)Cyclanthera – CaiguaThe plants in this family are grown around the tropics and in temperate areas, where those with edible fruits were among the earliest cultivated plants in both the Old and New Worlds. The family Cucurbitaceae ranks among the highest of plant families for number and percentage of species used as human food. The name Cucurbitaceae comes to international scientific vocabulary from Neo-Latin, from Cucurbita, the type genus, + -aceae, a standardized suffix for plant family names in modern taxonomy. The genus name comes from the Classical Latin word cucurbita, meaning "gourd".
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