Cucurbitales

The Cucurbitales are an order of flowering plants, included in the rosid group of dicotyledons. This order mostly belongs to tropical areas, with limited presence in subtropic and temperate regions. The order includes shrubs and trees, together with many herbs and climbers. One of major characteristics of the Cucurbitales is the presence of unisexual flowers, mostly pentacyclic, with thick pointed petals (whenever present) (Matthews and Endress, 2004). The pollination is usually performed by insects, but wind pollination is also present (in Coriariaceae and Datiscaceae).

The order consists of roughly 2600 species in eight families. The largest families are Begoniaceae (begonia family) with 1400 species and Cucurbitaceae (gourd family) with 825 species. The large families of Cucurbitales include several economically important plants. Specifically, the Cucurbitaceae (gourd family) are responsible for some food species, such as squash, pumpkin (both from Cucurbita), melon including watermelon (Citrullus vulgaris), and cucumber (Cucumis). The Begoniaceae are known for their horticultural species, of which there are over 130.