Representatives of the pumpkin. Pumpkin family. Large flowers of cultivated pumpkin, forming a deep bowl, almost do not let the outside cold inside. Insects, these flowers are often used as a shelter for the night. Fly away in the morning, insects carry away the priest

Pumpkin (Latin Cucurbitaceae)- a family of flowering dicotyledonous plants, numbering 130 genera and about 900 species. Most of the pumpkin seeds are perennial and annual herbs, but there are semi-shrubs and even shrubs among the representatives of the family. Pumpkin crops grow in countries with warm climates. The fruits of many pumpkin crops (melons, watermelons, cucumbers, pumpkins) are edible, some are used to make musical instruments (lagenaria), sponges and filler (loofah), and there are species that are grown as medicinal or ornamental plants.

Pumpkin family - description

A common botanical feature of the pumpkin plant representatives is the liana-like life form. Pumpkin plants have long, succulent stems, commonly called whips, that stretch along the ground and climb over supports with whiskers. The leaves of the representatives of the family are petiolate, simple, finger-dissected or lobed, without stipules, hard or hairy.

Pumpkin flowers - male, female or bisexual - are located singly in the axils or collected in an inflorescence. Most plants cultivated in culture have both male and female flowers, and the proportion of female flowers may increase depending on the decrease in the length of daylight hours, the increase in the content of carbon monoxide in the air or the decrease in the night temperature.

The fruit of pumpkin plants is berry-like, multi-seeded, usually with a hard crust and fleshy contents.

There are thirteen genera in the Pumpkin family:

• genus Pumpkin, which includes the following species:
  • common pumpkin;
  • zucchini;
  • squash, or dish pumpkin;
• genus Cucumber:
  • common cucumber;
  • melon;
  • anguria, or horned cucumber, or Antillean cucumber, or watermelon cucumber, or hedgehog cucumber;
  • kiwano, African cucumber, or horned melon;
• genus Lufa:
  • Egyptian loofah or cylindrical loofah;
  • sharp-ribbed loofah;
• genus Chayote:
  • edible chayote, or Mexican cucumber;
• genus Watermelon:
  • watermelon;
• genus Benincasa:
  • benincasa, or wax gourd, or winter gourd;
• –The family of Momordik:
  • momordica harantia, or Chinese bitter gourd, or bitter cucumber;
  • dioecious momordica, or prickly gourd, or canthola;
• genus Lagenaria:
  • ordinary lagenaria, or kalabas, or gourd, or kalabash, or bottle gourd, or dish pumpkin;
• genus Cyclanter:
  • cyclantera edible, or Peruvian cucumber;
• genus Trihozant:
  • serpentine trichozant, or snake pumpkin, or snake cucumber;
• genus Melotria:
  • melotria rough, or mouse melon, or mouse watermelon, or sour gherkin, or Mexican sour cucumber, or Mexican miniature watermelon;
• clan of Tladiant:
  • dubious tladianta, or red cucumber;
• clan of Sikan:
  • cassabanana, or scented sikana, or fragrant pumpkin, or musk cucumber.

In our article we will tell you about the most famous representatives of the family in the culture, grown both in the garden and in the garden.

Fruit pumpkin plants

Pumpkin

- a genus of herbaceous plants of the Pumpkin family, the most famous representative of which is the common pumpkin (Latin Cucurbita pepo), cultivated as a food and forage crop. The Aztecs ate, in addition to fruits, boiled flowers and the ends of pumpkin stalks, about which there are records in the "General History of the Affairs of New Spain", compiled in 1547-1577 by Bernardino de Sahagun.

Common pumpkin is an annual melon crop with a hairy creeping stem, antennae and large, lobed, rigid leaves. Yellow large unisexual pumpkin flowers, depending on gender, are located singly or in bunches. The fruit is a pumpkin with a hard outer shell and numerous large light-colored seeds. In culture, there are about a hundred varieties of common pumpkin, which differ from each other in size, shape and color of the fruit. Some of them are cultivated as ornamental plants, for example Cucurbita pepo var. clypeata or depressa is an ornamental plant with hard-leathery ribbed fruits.

Pumpkin fruits contain fiber, potassium, many vitamins - A, C, E, B vitamins, rare vitamin K, which affects blood clotting, as well as vitamin T, which promotes the absorption of heavy foods and at the same time prevents obesity by improving and accelerating all metabolic processes in the body. And by the amount of iron, the pulp of a pumpkin surpasses even apples. Edible pumpkins are eaten raw, added to salads, and after heat treatment - the pulp of the fruit is baked, stewed or boiled. Pumpkin is easily digestible, quenches thirst, improves peristalsis. Dried pumpkin seeds are used as medicinal raw materials - they are used as a remedy for tape worms.

Pumpkin is undemanding to the fertility and texture of the soil, only clay soils are unsuitable for growing this culture, but it is still preferable to plant it on well-lit, drained, fertile sandy loam, medium loamy or light loamy soils with a neutral reaction, pre-fertilized with compost or manure. Any plants are suitable as precursors to pumpkin, except for related ones - cucumbers, squash, squash and the like, but it grows best after perennial grasses and garden plants such as corn, tomatoes, cabbage, onions, carrots, potatoes and legumes.

Common pumpkin varieties are divided into large-fruited, hard-bore and nutmeg, as well as bush and climbing, fodder, table and decorative. In terms of ripening, the varieties are early, early ripening, mid-early, mid-maturing and late. The most popular table varieties are large-fruited pumpkins Zorka, Rossiyanka, Marble, Sweetie, Volzhskaya series, Winter sweet, Winter dining room, Smile, Kherson, Crumb, Medical, Hundred-pound, Centner, Titan, Valok, Parisian gold, Big Moon, Amazonka, Arina, Children's gourmet. Of the hard varieties, Acorn, Spaghetti, Freckle, Golosemyannaya, Gribovskaya bush, Almond, Altai, Kustovaya orange, Mozoleevskaya have proven themselves well. The best butternut pumpkins are represented by Butternat, Vitaminnaya, Palav Kadu and Prikubanskaya varieties.

As for decorative pumpkins that refresh and decorate summer cottages and our homes, such varieties as Stars, Turkish turban and Baby creamy white from the Scheherazade series, as well as Orange ball, Warty mix and Two-color ball from the series Kaleidoscope.

Watermelon

- melon culture, an annual herb, a species of the genus Watermelon. The watermelon was first described by the Swedish naturalist Karl Peter Thunberg in 1794 as a species of Momordika, but in 1916 the Japanese botanists Takenoshin Nakai and Ninzo Matsumura identified it as a genus of Watermelon.

The root system of a watermelon is powerful and branched, with good absorption. The main root can penetrate to a depth of one meter, and the lateral ones extend horizontally underground for a distance of up to 5 meters. The stems of the plant are flexible, thin, curly or creeping, most often round-pentahedral, branched, 3 or more meters long, although there are also short-leaved plant varieties. Young parts of the stems are covered with dense, soft pubescence. The leaves are alternate, hairy, harsh, triangular-ovate, strongly dissected, on long petioles, 8 to 22 cm long and 5 to 18 cm wide. The flowers are unisexual, and the male flowers are smaller than the female ones. The fruit is a juicy, multi-seeded pumpkin. The shape, color and size of watermelon fruits of different species and varieties can vary greatly, but in most cases they have a smooth surface.

Watermelon is a thermophilic plant, drought-resistant and heat-resistant, but this culture does not tolerate frost. They grow watermelons in well-lit areas with light soil.

The pulp of watermelon contains salts of iron, sodium, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, which have a beneficial effect on the functioning of the digestive system, hematopoiesis, endocrine glands and cardiovascular system. The use of watermelon is indicated for anemia, diseases of the heart, gall bladder and urinary tract, and the water contained in the watermelon and easily digestible sugars relieve the condition in acute and chronic liver diseases. The fiber of watermelon promotes the elimination of excess cholesterol and improves digestion, and the folic and ascorbic acids included in the pulp protect the body from atherosclerosis. Watermelon juice quenches thirst in case of fever, and alkaline compounds regulate the acid-base balance in the body.

Common watermelon is represented by two varieties: tsamma melon, which grows naturally in the countries of Lesotho, Botswana, South Africa, Namibia and woolly watermelon, which is grown exclusively in culture. Currently, there are European, Russian, East Asian, South Ukrainian, Transcaucasian and American groups of varieties of woolly watermelon. The most popular varieties are Astrakhansky, Monastyrsky, Kamyshinsky, Kherson, Melitopol, Uryupinsky, Mozdoksky, Yablochny, Raspberry cream, Korean, Chernouska, a variety of Japanese selection Densuke with a black crust and others.

Melon

- Melon culture, a species of the genus Cucumber comes from Central and Asia Minor, where about 400 years ago it was domesticated. Nowadays, you won't find melon in the wild, but in culture it is grown in all warm countries of the world. Melon can even be found in the Bible.

Melon is a herbaceous annual with pubescent hard hairs, a long, creeping rounded-faceted stem, the thickness of which is about 2 cm, and the length reaches 2 m. The lateral ones extend from the main shoot. The root system of the melon is pivotal, extending to a depth of 2-2.25 m. The leaves of the melon are alternate, separate or whole, whole-edged or serrated, long-petiolate, round, heart-shaped, kidney-shaped or angular, of different shades of green. There are three types of flowers - female, male and bisexual. Their corolla is funnel-shaped, with intergrown yellow petals. Melon fruit is a false berry, the size, color and shape of which varies depending on the variety: it can be flattened, round, elongated-oval, with a smooth or rough skin of white, yellow olive or brown color, with white, creamy or almost yellow flesh ... The structure, consistency, density and taste of the pulp also vary. In mass, the melon can reach from 1 to 20 kg. Inside each fruit is a large number of light seeds - elongated, oblong-oval or ovoid.

Melon is a plant for warm climates, therefore it is grown in sheltered from the wind sunny areas preferably on a southern slope. The plant prefers soil that is neutral, light, dry and well fertilized. Melon varieties are chosen based on the characteristics of the region: early varieties are more suitable for the middle lane, and in warmer regions, both mid-season and even late melons can be grown.

Melon is represented by five subspecies:

First subspecies - classic melon (Cucumis melo subsp.melo)- melon familiar to everyone, which is represented by:

four varieties of Central Asian melons:

• redigi - autumn-winter melons of varieties Beshek, Green Gulyabi, Torlama, Koy-bash;
• bukharki - early melons of the varieties Chogare, Assate, Tashlaki, Bos-valdy and others;
• Khandalyak - early ripening melons of the varieties Yellow Khandalyak, Kolagurk, Zami, Coc-Cola posh and others;
• ameri - summer, the most sugary of all melons, represented by the varieties Ak-Kaun, Ameri, Kokcha, Arbakesh, Bargi, Vakharman and others;

Western European melons:

• Western European cantaloupe, represented by mid-season varieties Charente, Prescot, Galia and others;
• American netted cantaloupe varieties Edisto, Rio-gold, Jumbo and others;
• Eastern European melons: early ripening (varieties Altai, Thirty-day, Lemon-yellow, Early), summer (varieties Dessertnaya, Kubanka, Kolkhoznitsa, Kerch) and winter (varieties Bykovskaya, Kavkazskaya, Mechta, Tavria);

oriental melons:

• cash register winter varieties Valencia, Honey Dew, Golden Beauty, Temporiano Roxet;
• cash register summer varieties Honey dew, Spotted, Zhukovsky.

and exotic melons:

• the second subspecies is Chinese melon (Cucumis melo subsp.chinensis);
• the third subspecies is cucumber melon (Cucumis melo subsp.flexuosus);
• the fourth subspecies is wild melon, or field weed (Cucumis melo subsp.agrestis);
• the fifth subspecies is Indian melon (Cucumis melo subsp.indica).

Zucchini is an annual herb, a bush type of pumpkin with green, yellow or almost white fruits. Zucchini comes from northern Mexico, where for centuries they, along with corn and pumpkin, constituted the basic diet of the Aboriginal people. Zucchini was introduced to Europe by the conquistadors in the 16th century, and then spread, taking a particularly important position in Italian and Mediterranean cuisine. Today, squash is cultivated wherever climatic conditions permit.

In appearance, zucchini more resemble not a pumpkin, but very large cucumbers. They are covered with a dense, smooth skin, under which there is a fleshy light flesh with a lot of seeds. Zucchini is eaten in the phase of technical, not biological maturity, since the seeds of ripe fruits become large and tough.

Zucchini should be grown in open, sunny areas located on the southwestern or southern slopes. The soil should be neutral, light, sandy loam or loamy. Under favorable conditions, you can get the fruits of zucchini within a month and a half after germination, but if the plant lacks light, a decrease in yield may occur until the growing season is completely terminated.

Zucchini contains a complex of vitamins - A, C, H, E, PP and B group, trace elements calcium, sodium, iron and magnesium, fiber, proteins, fats, carbohydrates and structured water. Zucchini belong to dietary products and have medicinal properties.

Zucchini varieties are divided according to such characteristics as ripening periods (early, mid-ripening and late), type of pollination (non-pollinated and bee-pollinated), place of cultivation (indoor or open ground), origin (variety or hybrid) and purpose (for consumption raw or for processing). But it is most convenient to divide the zucchini according to the ripening period.

From early-ripening zucchini, the varieties Chaklun, Belukha, Vodopad, Mavr, Aeronaut, Karam and hybrids Belogor, Iskander, Areal, Kavili and Karizma have proven themselves well. Popular mid-season zucchini are represented by the Gribovsky 37 variety and the Tivoli hybrid spaghetti zucchini, and the Orekhovy and Raviolo Spaghetti are good from the late varieties.

Is an Italian variety of white-fruited zucchini. Translated from Italian "zucchini" means "small pumpkin". This variety of zucchini gained fame only in the 19th century. The zucchini scourge is more compact, the leaves are more decorative, and the taste of the pulp is both more delicate and richer than that of zucchini. In addition, zucchini has a longer shelf life. In short, a zucchini is an improved zucchini. Zucchini's rind can be dark green or golden yellow, masonry or striped. Zucchini varieties differ and the shape of the fruit. Growing conditions for this variety are the same as for regular courgettes.

From early varieties The most famous zucchini are Aeronaut, Genovese, Yellow-fruited, White Swan, Golden Cup, Sir, Zebra, Mezzo Lungo Bianco, Negritok, Black handsome, Skvorushka, Anchor and Gold hybrid. Good early ripening varieties Pharaoh, Tsukesha, Runaway, Souvenir and Embessi hybrid variety. Mid-season varieties include zucchini Tondo Di Piacenzo, Kuand, Multi-storey, Milanese black, Zolotinka, Diamant and the Jade hybrid. Mid-late zucchini are represented by the Macaroni variety. In general, the zucchini group includes, as a rule, early and mid-season varieties.

Squash

Patisson (lat.Patisson), or dish pumpkin- herbaceous annual, a variety of common pumpkin, which is cultivated all over the world. In the wild, the squash is not found. They were brought to Europe from America in the 17th century and quickly gained popularity. A little later, they began to be grown in Ukraine and in the south of Russia, and two centuries later, this type of pumpkin reached Siberia.

Patisson has a bush or semi-bush form, it has large hard leaves, single unisexual yellow flowers, and the fruit is a bell-shaped or plate-shaped pumpkin of white, green or yellow color, sometimes monochromatic, sometimes with stripes or spots. The taste of squash is comparable to that of artichokes. Both young ovaries and mature fruits are used for food - they are stewed, salted, fried, fermented and pickled, sometimes together with cucumbers and tomatoes. Squash fruits contain mineral salts, pectins, fats, fiber, ash elements, vitamins and other useful substances.

Patisson is thermophilic and picky about moisture, therefore it is grown in open, well-lit and ventilated areas with loose, fertile neutral soil. The main condition for growing squash is timely and sufficient watering.

Squash varieties, like zucchini varieties, are divided into early, mid-season and late. Early varieties allow harvesting within 40-50 days after germination. Mid-ripening squash needs 50-60 days to reach technical ripeness, and 60-70 days for late ones. Of the early squash, the most popular varieties are White 13, Disc, UFO orange, Cheburashka, Bingo-Bongo, Malachite, Umbrella, Piglet, Gosha, Sunny Delight, Chartreuse, Polo hybrids and Sunny Bunny. Mid-season squash are represented by the varieties Snow White, Chunga-changa, Solnyshko, UFO white, Tabolinsky and a hybrid of Arbuzinka.

Cucumbers

Or sowing cucumber is an annual herb, a species of the genus Cucumber of the Pumpkin family. Cucumbers are eaten unripe, in contrast to pumpkin, which must be ripe for consumption. Cucumber appeared in culture more than six thousand years ago. The ancient Greeks called this vegetable "aguros", which means "unripe". The homeland of the plant is the tropics and subtropics of India, the foot of the Himalayas, where it can still be found in the wild. Today, cucumbers are grown all over the world in open and closed ground, and breeders tirelessly breed more and more new varieties and hybrids of this popular plant.

The stem of the cucumber is rough, creeping, ending with antennae clinging to the support. Leaves are five-lobed, cordate. The fruit is a juicy, emerald-green multi-seeded pimpled green plant, covered with white or dark pubescence. Fruits of different varieties may differ in size, color and color.

Zelentsy contain 95-97% structured water... The remaining few percent include a small amount of carbohydrates, proteins and fats, macro- and micronutrients, sugar, carotene, chlorophyll, vitamins C, B and PP. The substances that make up cucumbers stimulate appetite, improve digestion and assimilation of food, increasing the acidity of gastric juice. The properties of cucumbers were described in the old medical book "Cool Helicopter", which was compiled in the 17th century.

Exotic pumpkin plants

Gourd

Or gourd, or gourd pumpkin, or bottle pumpkin, or Indian cucumber, or Vietnamese zucchini, or calabash is an annual creeping vine of the Pumpkin family. This plant is cultivated for the sake of its fruits, which are used for different purposes: young long-fruited pumpkins are eaten, and ripe fruits, shaped like bottles, are used as vessels and musical instruments are made from them. The gourd has two subspecies:

• lagenaria siceraria subsp. asiatica - a plant with elongated bottle-shaped fruits, common in Polynesia and Asia;
• lagenaria siceraria subsp. siceraria is an elongated horn-shaped variety native to Africa and America.

In culture, gourd was used long before our era, even before the appearance of pottery. Africa is considered the birthplace of Lagenaria, from where it spread through Central Asia to China, and also, possessing strong walls and buoyancy, came to America with an ocean current. This crop is grown in the subtropical and tropical zones of Africa, China and South America. In temperate climates, lagenaria is grown in greenhouses in seedlings.

The unripe fruits of the gourd, which have reached a length of 15 cm, are eaten - they taste very much like zucchini. They are eaten raw, cooked from them, canned in the phase of milk ripeness. Oil is obtained from the seeds of ripe fruits. Lagenaria seeds, like pumpkin seeds, have an anthelmintic effect. The gourd can be used as a rootstock for melons and cucumbers. From the ripe fruit of the gourd, vessels are made for storing food and water, drinking bowls and musical instruments such as balafon, guiro, shekere, bark, which are usually decorated with carved or burnt patterns. In South America, they are also used for brewing mate.

Trihozant

- a genus of herbaceous lianas of the Pumpkin family, whose representatives grow in tropical and subtropical zones. In the countries of the South and South-East Asia serpentine trichozant (lat.Trichosanthes cucumerina), which is the most popular species of the genus, is cultivated for its fleshy fruits, stems and antennae, which are eaten.

The stem of the serpentine trichozant, or serpentine cucumber, or snake gourd

thin, up to 3 m long, leaves are complex, three-seven-lobed, the root system is shallow, like cucumbers. Female flowers are single, male flowers are collected in racemose inflorescences. The shape of the flowers is unusual and attractive: numerous elongated threads, twisting at the ends, extend from the white petals. By the evening, the flowers begin to emit an amazing aroma. The fruits of the trichozant resemble Chinese cucumbers, and some of them wriggle like snakes. They are from 50 to 150 cm long, and from 4 to 10 cm in diameter. The color of the fruit depends on the type of plant - it can be white, green, green with white stripes or white with green. When ripe, the fruits gradually turn red from bottom to top. There are no more than 10 seeds similar to pumpkin seeds in the fruits of trichozant. During the season, up to two dozen fruits can be removed from one plant, which include carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins and minerals. The pulp of the fruit is eaten raw, added to its salads, mashed soups are cooked from it, fried, baked and stewed. Some varieties of trichozant have an unpleasant odor, which can only be removed during heat treatment.

The trichozant is not picky about the growing conditions, but if you want the maximum return from the plant, then select a site for it with fertile, water- and air-permeable light loamy or sandy loam soil. Ground water should not lie too close to the surface of the site. Trichozant is grown through seedlings, which are planted in the ground under a film around April 15-20. Popular varieties of trichozant are Kukumerina with marbled white fruits, Snake Guad - Chinese variety with white fruits with dark green stripes, Petola Ular - Malaysian varieties with light green fruits with dark stripes and Japanese variety Serpentine with green striped fruits. twisted in a spiral.

Chayote

Or mexican cucumber- a cultivated plant, known to the Maya, Aztecs and other ancient Indian tribes. Chayote homeland is Central America. The main supplier of chayote is Costa Rica today, but it is cultivated in many countries with warm climates.

Weakly pubescent shoots of chayote with longitudinal grooves reach a length of 20 m, clinging to the support with antennae. The root system is a fleshy root, on which, from the second year of growth, up to a dozen tubers weighing about 10 kg of yellow, yellow-green, light green, dark green or almost white with white flesh resembling the texture of a cucumber or potato flesh are formed. Chayote leaves, broadly rounded, covered with stiff hairs, 10 to 25 cm long, consisting of 3 to 7 obtuse lobes, located on long petioles. Greenish or cream-colored flowers with a corolla about 1 cm in diameter are unisexual - the female flowers are single, and the male flowers are collected in brushes. Chayote fruits are round or pear-shaped berries weighing up to a kilogram, 7 to 20 cm long with one flat-oval white seed, 3 to 5 cm in size.The peel of the fruit is shiny, thin, but strong, white, green or light yellow, sometimes with longitudinal grooves or small growths. The pulp is white-green, sweetish, starchy.

All parts of chayote are edible - leaves, tops of young shoots, which are used stewed, and unripe fruits - stewed, added raw to salads, baked, stuffed with meat or vegetables. Chayote seeds acquire a nutty flavor after roasting. Young tubers are cooked like potatoes, and old ones are fed to livestock. Headdresses and other products are woven from the stems.

Chayote contains 17 amino acids, including arginine, lysine, methionine, leucine, as well as polyunsaturated fatty acids, carbohydrates, proteins, sugar, fiber, carotene, starch, potassium, magnesium, sodium, calcium, phosphorus, iron and zinc , vitamins C, PP and group B.

Since chayote stops growing at temperatures below 20 ºC, it is grown only in warm climates or in greenhouses. Chayote soil needs loose, well-drained, neutral and rich soil, although with proper care it can even be grown on clay soils. The chayote beds are located in places protected from the wind and well warmed up and illuminated by the sun.

Loofah

Loofah, or luffa, or luffa (lat.Luffa) is a herbaceous vine of the Pumpkin family. The area of ​​loofah is the tropics and subtropics of Africa and Asia. According to various sources, there are from 8 to 50 plant species, but only two of them are grown in culture - cylindrical loofah and sharp-ribbed loofah, a more early maturing and cold-resistant species that grows well even in the northern regions. We all know well the loofah products - bath sponges that you can buy at the hardware store, but it's much more interesting to grow them in your garden.

Liana luffa reaches a length of 5 m. Its leaves are alternate, whole or five-seven-lobed, flowers are large, dioecious, white or yellow. Male flowers form a racemose inflorescence, while female flowers grow singly. The elongated cylindrical fruits of the loofah are fibrous and dry inside, with a large number of seeds. It is the fruits of some types of loofah that are used to make washcloths. And the fruits of such species as Egyptian loofah and sharp-ribbed are eaten. The seeds of the plant contain more than 25% oil suitable for technical purposes. Soap is also made from loofah.

The loofah is grown in seedlings by planting hardened seedlings on low ridges or beds in early May. The soil on the site should be fertile, fertilized, neutral and preferably sandy loam. They choose a place that is sunny and protected from the wind for the loofah. If you are interested in edible fruits, then it is better to grow a sharp-ribbed loofah, and if you need washcloths, then give preference to a cylindrical loofah.

Momordica charantia

Or bitter cucumber Is a herbaceous one-year monoecious liana that grows naturally in tropical regions of Asia, and is cultivated in warm regions of the world - in China, the Caribbean, South and Southeast Asia. The leaves of this type of Momordica are kidney-shaped, flattened or rounded with a heart-shaped base. They are deeply incised on 5-9 lobes and are located oppositely on petioles from 1 to 7 cm long. Momordica flowers are unisexual, axillary, with five yellow petals. The fruits are green, rough, with warts and wrinkles, cylindrical, oval or fusiform. When ripe, they turn yellow or orange. The pulp of the fruit is spongy and dry, the seeds are bitter, irregular in shape, red-brown in color.

Momordica is grown for its fruits, which are harvested unripe, then they are soaked in salt water for several hours to remove bitterness, after which they are stewed or boiled. Young shoots, leaves and flowers of the plant are also extinguished. Poisonous Momordica juice is used to treat asthma, rheumatism and arthritis. Momordica pulp tastes like chayote or cucumber pulp. It is nutritious and useful due to the content of a large amount of iron, beta-carotene, potassium, calcium and other elements important for the human body. Some of the compounds that make up the Momordica fruit help to treat HIV, malaria, type II diabetes, and the sap of the plant is able to destroy pancreatic cancer cells.

The thermophilic plant is grown in hotbeds, greenhouses, on balconies and window sills. Among the momordica species, there are ornamental plants for both indoor culture and for growing along fences and arbors.

Cyclanter

Or cucumber achokhcha, or peruvian cucumber- a species of plants of the genus Cyclantera of the Pumpkin family, cultivated in countries with warm climates for the sake of edible fruits. The homeland of this species is the countries of South America - Peru, Ecuador and Brazil. The plant was introduced into culture by the Incas, then they forgot about it for a long time, but today interest in cyclanter has increased again. Young fruits of cyclanters are eaten raw, stewed, fried, pickled and salted; flowers and shoots of the plant are also edible.

Cyclantera is a powerful annual liana up to 5 m long, clinging to the support with its antennae. The leaves of the plant are alternate, finger-dissected almost to the base into 5-7 parts. They grow so densely that you can hide under them from the burning summer sun. Flowers are yellow, small - up to 1 cm in diameter, dioecious. Female flowers are single, male flowers are collected in 20-50 pieces in paniculate inflorescences 10-20 cm long. Elongated oval fruits of cyclanters up to 3 cm in diameter and 5-7 cm long are narrowed at both ends, and the top is usually curved. The green skin of the fruit turns light green or creamy when ripe. Black seeds of cyclantera in the amount of 8-10 pieces are enclosed in a chamber inside the fruit.

The seeds of the plant contain 28-30 amino acids, and the pulp of the fruit contains phenols, peptin, flavonoids, glycosides, alkaloids, lipids, tannins, resins, terpenes, sterols, vitamins and minerals. Cyclantera has anesthetic, diuretic, choleretic, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, hypotensive, hypoglycemic effect.

The cyclanter is grown with seeds and seedlings, but it is very demanding on heat, so choose for it areas protected from the wind, well lit and warmed up by the sun. The cyclanter grows best on drained, loose loamy or sandy loamy soils of a neutral reaction.

Benincasa

Or pumpkin wax, or winter pumpkin- herbaceous liana, a species of the genus Benincasa, which is widely cultivated for the sake of edible fruits, reaching a length of two meters. The surface of unripe fruit has a velvety texture, but as it ripens, it becomes smooth and becomes covered with a waxy coating, which allows the fruit to persist for a long time after cutting. At first, benincasa was cultivated only in Southeast Asia, then spread east and south.

Benincasa is a liana-like annual with a well-developed root system and faceted stems as thick as a pencil, reaching a length of 4 m. The leaves of the wax gourd are long-peaked, lobed, but not as large as those of other gourds. The flowers are very beautiful, large - up to 15 cm in diameter, orange-yellow, with five petals. Benincase fruits can be round or oblong, and their weight can reach 10 kg, although in the middle lane they grow only up to 5 kg.

The pulp of the fruit of the wax gourd has medicinal properties and is used in traditional Chinese medicine to relieve pain, lower body temperature in case of fever, and remove excess water from the body. The seeds are used as a tonic and sedative.

Benincasa loves well-lit areas and nutritious, breathable neutral soil.

Sikana

Fragrant Sikana (Latin Sicana odorifera), or fragrant pumpkin, or kassabanana- a large liana cultivated for the sake of fruit. A native plant from Brazil, it also grows wild in Ecuador and Peru, and is grown in culture in all tropical countries of America and the Caribbean. In the middle lane, it can be cultivated in greenhouses.

The length of the liana-shaped stem of the Sikana reaches 15 m, and the leaves covered with hairs are 30 cm. The fruit of the Sikana is elliptical, slightly curved, up to 11 cm in diameter and up to 60 cm in length. Its peel is smooth, glossy, dark purple, maroon, orange-red or black. The pulp is juicy, aromatic, yellow or orange-yellow, and in its middle there is a fleshy kernel with a large number of flat seeds up to 16 mm long and up to 6 mm wide.

In terms of biological composition and taste, Sikan resembles the sweet fruit of a pumpkin. It is added to salad, fried and stewed.

Melotria

It is also a climbing herbaceous plant native to the rainforests of Central America. In culture, it is grown for the sake of small fruits 1.5-2 cm in size, which taste like sour cucumbers, and look like tiny watermelons. Melotria leaves are also similar to cucumber leaves, but they are smaller and do not turn yellow for a very long time. Bright yellow female flowers are arranged one by one, and male flowers are collected in inflorescences. The lashes of melotria can reach a length of 3 m and cling to the support with antennae, like the stems of other pumpkin plants. In addition to edible fruits, melotria forms tubers weighing up to 400 g, similar in shape and size to sweet potatoes and used for making salads.

Melotria is grown through seedlings in balcony boxes, near trellises or fences.

Properties of pumpkin plants

Common features of pumpkin plants are a creeping or climbing stem with tendrils clinging to a support, which are actually modified shoots.

Most pumpkin plants are insect pollinated, so the flowers of many of them have a strong aroma that lures pollinators - bees, wasps, bumblebees and steppe ants. Representatives of different types of pumpkin crops are not cross-pollinated, so they can be grown in close proximity to each other. The only exceptions are zucchini, zucchini and common pumpkin, however, cross-pollination of these crops, changing the genetic code of the seeds, does not affect the quality of vegetables.

As a rule, flowers in pumpkin crops are dioecious: females are located singly, and males form a racemose or paniculate inflorescence.

In the vast majority of pumpkin plants, fruits are similar in structure to a berry. Examples include watermelon, cucumber, pumpkin, and melon. Sometimes the ripe seeds begin to germinate inside the fruit, and when the overripe fruit cracks, not only seeds fall out of it, but also sprouts, which take root very quickly.

Best of all, pumpkin crops grow in sheltered from the wind, well-lit and warmed by the sun, southern or south-western areas with sandy loam or loamy soil of a neutral reaction.

The best precursors for pumpkin seeds are perennial herbs, potatoes, as well as onions, cabbage, and carrots. It is undesirable to grow pumpkin seeds in one place for several years in a row - this leads to the accumulation of pathogens in the soil and, as a result, to a sharp decrease in yield. After harvesting pumpkin crops, it is advisable to plow or at least deeply dig the site in order to close up plant residues and fertilizers - this will allow in the next season to reduce the number of weeds, pests and pathogens and activate the course of microbiological processes.

The Pumpkin family is very extensive. Its representatives live in both the Old and the New World and do not refuse either humid tropics and subtropics, or deserts - it would be warm! Pumpkin seeds have large seeds, grow rapidly at a young age, and reach impressive sizes in adults.

Cucumber

India and China are recognized as the homeland of this wonderful vegetable, but Russian gardeners have long brought it far to the north and created varieties that are phenomenal in early maturity and cold resistance. In the southern vegetable gardens, the cucumber is second only to tomato in area, and in the northern beds it loses only to cabbage. Local Russian varieties have long been bred in almost every province throughout the vast country (with the exception of the Far North). The nationwide love for a modest and "frivolous" product seems surprising. Moreover, cucumbers contain about 96% of water (however, according to the catch phrase of the founder of the Department of Vegetable Growing of the Moscow Agricultural Academy V. I. Edelstein, "this water is not tap water ..."). But the craving for fresh cucumbers is not at all accidental - their juice is rich in physiologically active substances. In addition to mineral salts, including the most important trace elements, it contains vitamins and enzymes that promote their assimilation.

For thousands of years, cucumber has been used both in medicine and in cosmetology. Fresh fruits are known for their pronounced diuretic effect, as well as a laxative and antipyretic agent. The alkaline reaction of the pulp makes it an indispensable product for people suffering from high acidity of gastric juice. In addition, the fiber in the fruit is not coarse, it does not injure the gastrointestinal tract, but only helps to cleanse it.

Variety selection

Finding the "right" variety or hybrid of cucumber is not easy. On the one hand, there is plenty to choose from: there are almost 2000 of them in the state register of registered breeding achievements! But there is another side of the coin: with such a multitude, it is not surprising to get confused in search of what is needed for specific conditions. Therefore, we will try to divide the selection process into 6 steps (in this case, we will talk about growing for the needs of the family).

Step 1: salad or pickle? According to their purpose, varieties and hybrids of cucumber are divided into salad, pickling, suitable for canning and universal. The most popular salting and universal varieties... It is difficult to argue with lovers of classic pickles, but it is a pity that we grow few real salad varieties. After all, the most useful cucumber is fresh, and of them the one that is more tender and juicy is better, and these qualities are poorly combined with the strength required for canned raw materials. In this case, universality is conditional, for the sake of it you have to sacrifice something. So isn't it better to use special varieties? In the salad, for example, - Zozulya, put the little ones fresh on the table Be healthy, salt Teremok in the tub, and close the Hit of the season in the jars?

Step 2: a look from the inside. The taste of a fresh cucumber depends on many reasons. Here and chemical composition(content of essential oils, salts, sugars, acids). Both the consistency of the pulp and the hardness of the skin play a role. It should be noted that the cucumber fruits of modern high-quality hybrids do not taste bitter under any circumstances, but the old pickled varieties have bitterness, which disappears during the fermentation process. So there is no point in putting up with this disadvantage in salad cucumbers - it is easier to choose the right hybrid right away.

If you choose pickling cucumbers, look for descriptions of strong fruits without voids and with dense flesh.

Step 3: attitude to light. Having figured out what kind of greens and gherkins we need, let's pay attention to the properties of the plants themselves. Let's start with the fact that the cucumber is "winter" and "summer". The word "winter" in this case has nothing to do with the ability to withstand frost (it did not exist and does not exist), and even in terms of resistance to cold snaps, winter hybrids (varieties) are inferior to summer ones (seemingly a paradox). But they are distinguished by shade tolerance, they are capable of bearing fruit in rather poor lighting. This moment is relevant for those who grow cucumbers in shaded beds or on balconies.

Step 4: gender issues. It is very important whether the plant can produce fruit without pollination or not. Parthenocarp is necessary in cases where there is no one to "work as bees" or there is not enough pollen (for example, there are few or no male flowers). Plants of bee-pollinated cucumber have their own tastes - under certain conditions they show high productivity: the pollinated ovary has an increased competitive ability in the fight for nutrients. By the way, a fruit with developing seeds always contains more biologically active substances in comparison with parthenocarpic cucumber.

Step 5: a bouquet of fruits. The number and location of the female flowers also matter. In those cases when they grow in the axils of the leaves in bunches of 3-7 pieces or more, we get a lot of medium-sized fruits. If the plant simultaneously forms only 1-2 ovaries, then they receive "enhanced nutrition" and can very quickly turn from undersized into overgrown (in these cases, you have to harvest every other day).

Step 6: attention to the bushes. For those who care for the plantings, great importance has the nature of plant branching. Is it important for you to spend less time on shaping? Look for hybrids that are characterized by weak branching - usually their main stem is more loaded with fruits (until the plants "unload" from them, the side shoots hardly grow). After harvesting the first wave of harvest, some varieties of this type form normal ones, while others (Alphabet) have short, flower-ending shoots, and then the cucumbers are again compactly arranged along the main stem. The longer the season, the more such fruiting waves there can be.

However, the longer the summer lasts, the more pests and pathogens accumulate on the plants. And then plants with strong lateral shoots and a large leaf surface show great vitality - it is they who bear fruit before frost in the open field and until a short day in October in a greenhouse. Domestic hybrids of this type include the following: Maryina Roshcha, Chistye Prudy, Sekret Firmy; from imported: Herman, Merenga and others.

How to get the harvest?

Cucumber is grown both in open ground and in greenhouses, greenhouses, tunnels, under temporary frame shelters and simply in furrows covered with non-woven material.

The soil for cucumbers is prepared so that it is loose, nutritious, with a reaction close to neutral, free from weeds, pests, so that there is no threat of stagnant water. Culture is responsive to organic fertilizers which improve the structure of the soil and contain substances that stimulate growth.

If there is a need for an early harvest, it makes sense to grow the cucumber through seedlings. When planting fairly mature plants with 3-4 true leaves, the gain in time will be maximum. For the rest, they do the following with seedlings: if the weather is already warm and the conditions at the planting site already meet the needs of young plants, they can be planted with the first real leaf. In all cases, when sowing seedlings, we can keep the process under control: at a temperature of 25-27 ° C, at least 90% of good seeds will sprout already on the 3-4th day. True, for this, the seeds must be carefully sown horizontally, embedded to the same depth of 1-1.5 cm and evenly warmed up.

If the sowing is carried out immediately to a permanent place, then it is started when the soil warms up to at least 16 ° C. At the same time, one must be prepared for the fact that seedlings will appear only on the 6-10th day and may be uncomfortable.

Planting density depends on varietal characteristics(small leaves or large, side shoots grow poorly or they are powerful), from the place of cultivation (in a greenhouse or open field) and on how long we are going to keep the plants (the longer, the more space they need to provide). On average, 2.5 vigorous plants or 3.5 weakly branching plants in the greenhouse and 3-4.5 in the open field are obtained per 1 m2.

The most convenient placement is with double-line tapes. 40-50 cm is left between the rows in the tape so that a sprinkler pipe or irrigation furrow or a strip of black non-woven material can be placed. Between the ribbons (pairs of rows), wide aisles are left - 110-120 cm, and in a row between plants - 20-30 cm.When using a trellis, plants can be planted in one line with a step of 20 cm, and their tops can be staggered to two parallel wires fixed 50 cm apart along the bed.

When grown in open ground, the formation is carried out according to the "minimum program" - pinch the tops at the beginning of the growth of the ovaries to speed up the process, and lateral shoots, if there is a real threat of thickening. You can even do without surgical intervention when growth is limited by the generous heat and light of the sun and actively growing fruits.

In the greenhouse, cucumber plants must be tied up so that they use its volume. Remove flowers and shoots from the sinuses lower leaves so that they do not interfere with air circulation and do not provoke the development of rot. In the future, pinch several lateral shoots on one leaf and the fruit (or fruits, if they grow in a bundle), even higher - on two fruits, so that the leaves do not block the light from each other. If the top grows to a trellis, it is thrown over it and two or three internodes are placed on the wire.

For maximum yield, fruits should be harvested every other day in hot weather and twice a week in cool weather. Those who grow their garden only on weekends have to try to contain growth by airing (sometimes leaving the greenhouses open for the whole week), moderate watering and reducing nitrogen fertilization. The harvest will be less, but you will not have to worry about overgrowths that have not found use.

Zucchini and company

Zucchini, like all vegetables discovered with America, first came to the Mediterranean and spread throughout the continent in subsequent centuries. At the beginning of the 19th century, Russia got acquainted with the white-fruited zucchini, which were grown in Greece, in connection with which they were first called "Greek". At the age of 7-10 days after pollination, white-fruited zucchini have a delicate skin and good taste, they can be fried, stewed or cooked in another way without peeling, but after a week the skin begins to turn into bark, which is difficult even to pierce with a knife, let alone clear. These classic squash, once ripe, have the same shelf life as their sister large, hard-bore gourds.

In the twentieth century, amazing multi-colored zucchini, bred in Italy, where they are called "pumpkins" - "zucchini" were brought to our country. They are distinguished by powerful cut leaves with inclusions of whitish airy tissue (like a watermelon), but the main thing is that the yellow, green, dark green, striped or speckled peel of the fruit does not woody: a two-week-old mini-vegetable marrow and a two-kilogram "wild boar" are subject to the knife with ripening seeds. The latter can be safely peeled months after harvest, so if you have a lot to do at the end of the season, you can postpone cooking squash caviar until later.

Patisson has fruits resembling a disc with rounded edges (or a flying saucer, it is not for nothing that a variety called UFO appeared), and a dense crispy flesh. When ripe, the skin of most varieties hardens, like the "Greek" zucchini.

The fruits of the kruknek look like zucchini, curved at the stalk - it is not for nothing that they got their apt name (translated from English, it means "crooked neck"). In the company of vegetable varieties of hard-bore pumpkin, they have the most nutritious and nutritionally valuable pulp, but they are more thermophilic and demanding on growing conditions in comparison with squash and squash, and therefore are inferior to them in popularity. In addition, no domestic varieties have been registered yet.

Pumpkin

In reference books, especially old ones, pumpkin may not be found among vegetable crops: it, like melon with watermelon, was singled out in a separate category - "melons". American pumpkins, hard and large-fruited, have been grown in Russia for over 400 years. Pumpkins have a powerful root system, which allows them to absorb water from great depths (up to 2 meters or more) and supply large leaves, which is very important in southern conditions. At the same time, they are quite cold-hardy, thanks to which they moved to the north, including the Non-Black Earth Region. The "bbw" show their taste qualities only in biological ripeness, and it takes a long time to wait for it: about 120 days from germination, even for early varieties. However, pumpkins have a wonderful property: they ripen for another 2-3 months after being harvested, and during this time, as the starch breaks down and turns into sugar, they become sweeter. And after that they may not lose their qualities for several more months, almost until spring. For storage and ripening, they are removed in a cool, but not cold room, it is not for nothing that their traditional place in a peasant hut is under a bed or a bench.

When sowing seeds in open ground, pumpkins north of Voronezh do not ripen every year, so it is better to sow under cover, in large holes fertilized with manure, or plant seedlings. Plants take up a lot of space: bush plants need at least 1 m2, climbing plants - up to 4 m2. To obtain seedlings, seeds are sown no earlier than 20-25 days before planting in liter pots with a nutrient mixture, taking into account the fact that the "babies" are large (and grow like a fabulous hero, "by leaps and bounds"). Seeds are planted to a depth of 2-3 cm, closer to the surface, the seedlings do not shed their hard seed coat and are strongly stretched. The temperature before germination is maintained at 23-25 ​​° C, after the full emergence of seedlings, it is reduced to 17-20 in the daytime and 14-15 at night. Seedlings, like all heat-loving crops, are planted with the expectation that they do not fall under frost.

Care consists of periodic loosening, abundant watering in the first half of summer, top dressing (if the pumpkin does not "sit" on the compost heap, where there is enough food) and pinching the lash to accelerate the ripening of the set fruits (where the summer is short).

Exotic

Acquaintance with momordika, melotria, anguria, lagenaria and chayote is more informative than practical for the inhabitants of the middle lane. But in the Krasnodar Territory, they feel great and find themselves admirers. In Sochi, I was shown a lagenaria, a pumpkin "with a waist" - a gourd from which you can make a jug. Chayote was planted in a film greenhouse at the Adler station of the Research Institute of Vegetable Growing. One plant was enough to form a huge light green umbrella by the middle of summer, under which several people could hide from the unbearable heat (the whips of the "Mexican cucumber" are such that, if not pinched in time, they will grow up to 8 meters). Numerous chayote fruits are white-greenish in color and resemble quince in shape. The pulp is dense: to make a salad, it had to be planed on a grater.

This family includes 130 genera and about 900 species, growing mainly in tropical and subtropical regions from rainforests to deserts. Africa is especially rich in wild-growing pumpkin seeds, as well as Asia and America. In temperate latitudes, representatives of this family are relatively few. Pumpkin annuals or perennials, climbing or creeping grasses, less often shrubs, with alternate, palmate or pinnate (less often separate) or simple leaves. Most members of the family are equipped with antennae, which are modified shoots.

Flowers are usually unisexual, mono- or dioecious, rarely bisexual, actinomorphic, single or collected in axillary inflorescences - bunches, brushes, panicles, umbrellas. The perianth, together with the base of the filaments, forms a flower tube adherent to the ovary; the calyx is five-lobed. Corolla spliced, five-lobed or five-part (up to dissected), yellow or white, less often greenish or red. Stamens 2-3-5, very rarely 2, more often 5, of which usually 4 are fused in pairs; sometimes all filaments or anthers of all stamens grow together. Gynoecium consists of 3, rarely 5 or 4 carpels; inferior ovary (sometimes semi-inferior), more often three-celled, with numerous ovules in each nest; column with thickened fleshy stigmas.

Academician N. Vavilov recalled what he saw in the Jericho desert on the banks Dead sea original cucumbers of the prophets - "gooseberry pumpkin". Their fruits are the size of a small plum, covered with thorns, edible and taste like salted cucumbers: slightly salty.

Pumpkin plants are mainly insect pollinated.

Common pumpkin

Large, well-developed nectaries filled with very sweet nectar have such a structure that they are accessible to everyone. Therefore, pumpkin flowers are visited by about 150 species of insects. The flowers of many species do not have a strong aroma and lure pollinators either with large bright yellow corollas (like pumpkin, watermelon, cucumber, etc.), or their petals have the ability to reflect ultraviolet rays invisible to our eyes. The main pollinators of cucurbits are bees (especially the honey bee) and steppe ants, as well as wasps and bumblebees. Insects visit male flowers more often, since pollen serves as an excellent food for insects; it contains more than a hundred useful substances, including proteins, fats and many vitamins. The overwhelming majority of members of the family have fruits similar in structure to a berry, but very peculiar, called "pumpkin". Pumpkin, watermelon, melon and cucumber are classic examples of this type of fruit. In pumpkin seeds, sometimes some of the most ripe and viable seeds germinate inside the fruit. As a result, when an overripe fruit cracks, not only seeds fall out of it, but also fully developed seedlings, the roots of which quickly penetrate into loose soil and take root. The most modern classification of the pumpkin family belongs to the English botanist C. Jeffrey (1980). According to this classification, the family is divided into two subfamilies and 8 tribes.

Pumpkin flower. Photo: Christoslilu

Pumpkin. Photo: Maja Dumat

There are almost no trees in the pumpkin family. Only one. Since all kinds of botanical rarities are usually found on oceanic islands, the cucumber tree also grows on the island. Socotra Island in the Indian Ocean. Dendrositsios, as the tree is called, is perhaps the farthest of all the pumpkin leaves from its liana-like ancestors. Its seven-meter barrel is not flexible and thin, but swollen: like a pedestal. It is soft and full of water, like a baobab. There is something elephant in this tree, and it is juicy, like all pumpkin seeds. There are absolutely no side branches. Only at the top, the trunk unexpectedly branches into two or three branches. Those, in turn, branch out many times. A lush bush is formed. And only cucumber leaves, rough, rough, with thorns along the edges. And flowers like cucumber, only collected in large clusters.

Adapting to the difficult conditions of the desert, the gourd have developed an original defense. From Africa to India, you can find colocynth - a bitter gourd or bitter watermelon, with completely inedible flesh, tough, dry or bitter. Seeds do not germinate in the light. And not because the light is harmful to them. The reason is more subtle. If the seeds germinated openly, in the light, the rays of the sun would incinerate the tender shoots. If the seed is in the dark, it means that it fell into the depths of the soil. Until it breaks through to the light, it will have time to strengthen the spine. Such a seedling will not die.

Large subfamily of pumpkin seeds (Gucurbitoideae) contains 7 tribes, including 110 genera. One of the most primitive representatives of the pumpkin subfamily is the genus Telfairia, belonging to the Joliffieae tribe. The genera Momordica and Thladiantha belong to the same tribe. The paleotropic genus Momordica includes about 45 species, most of which are annual climbing vines with a thin stem and long-petiolate leaves, cultivated in tropical countries of Asia. In the genus Tladiant, there are about 15 species that grow in East and Southeast Asia.

To another tribe (tribe beninkase - Benincaseae) include the genera Acanthosicyos (2 species), mad cucumber (Ecballium. monotypic genus), watermelon (Citrullus) and others. Acanthositsios is a typical desert plant with spiny tendrils and a thick, sometimes very long root. Among other genera of the same tribe, first of all, the watermelon (Citrullus) should be mentioned. These are annual or perennial pubescent creeping grasses with dissected leaves. Flowers are large, single, unisexual or bisexual; sepals and their petals grow together at the base. Corolla yellow, stamens 5. Stigma three-lobed, ovary three-celled. The fruit is a multi-seeded juicy pumpkin with flat seeds. Watermelon is common in tropical and subtropical regions of the globe. The genus includes 3 species: edible watermelon, colocynth, beanless watermelon, whose range is limited to the Namib Desert in South-West Africa. The antennae of this plant are completely reduced. This tribe, in addition to watermelon, includes the genera Bryonia, Lagenaria, or Gourmet (Lagenaria), Benincasa and some others. The genus perestusen includes 12 species that grow on the Canary Islands, the Mediterranean, Europe, Western and Central Asia. These climbing perennial tall plants can be found in the Caucasus and Central Asia among shrubs, on forest edges, in ravines, as well as weeds near hedges and walls. The antennae of the treads are especially sensitive to the touch of solid objects, causing them to be very fast growth and bending towards the stimulus. For a relatively short term antennae tightly twine around the support, reliably holding the heavy weight of the plant in weight. Small inconspicuous perestroop flowers, collected in sparse inflorescences, hardly stand out against the background of leaves and smell very weak, however, insects willingly visit them, attracted by the ultraviolet pattern of the corolla, invisible to our eye. In the pumpkin family, only in representatives of this genus the fruit is a real berry. Numerous small footfall seeds are covered in tough and sturdy armor. The embryo of the seed that has passed through the digestive tract of the bird remains intact and capable of germination. Overripe perestroke berries are crushed at the slightest touch, and the seeds stick with mucus to the skin of the animal that touches them, thus spreading too. Some species of the genus are poisonous plants, some are used in a number of countries as medicinal. Berries and roots containing glycosides bryonin and brionidine are especially poisonous.

To tribe pumpkin (Cucurbiteae) includes 12 genera, including the genus pumpkin, numbering about 20 species, wildly growing exclusively in America. Some of them have long been introduced into culture. To date, there are a huge number of varieties of food, feed and decorative pumpkins. Representatives of the genus are perennial or annual herbaceous plants with a rounded or faceted stem, often extended, sometimes climbing. The genus Luffa, which has much in common with the next tribe, Cyclanteridae, occupies a somewhat isolated position in the cucurbitaceous tribe. There are 5 species in the genus.

Cyclanteric tribe (Cyclanthereae) includes 12 genera, growing mainly in the tropical and subtropical zones. In all representatives of these genera, staminate filaments are fused, fruits are prickly, often opening. An example is the large American genus Echinocystis, which unites about 15 species, with white small monoecious flowers. Another interesting genus of the tribe is the cyclanter, which includes about 15 species. They all grow in Central and Tropical South America. These are herbaceous climbing plants with a pubescent stem and five- to seven-lobed leaves. Yellow, green or white flowers without nectaries. therefore, plants are mainly wind-pollinated. Ripe fruits are suddenly opened by two valves, each of which bends back with force. As a result, the seeds are scattered over fairly long distances. Tribe sitsiosovye (Sicyoeae) is characterized by female flowers with a single, less often three-celled ovary; stamens of male flowers are accrete, with sinuous anthers. The tribe includes 6 genera, of which the most interesting are Sicyos and Sechium. The genus sitsios includes about 15 species native to the Hawaiian Islands, Polynesia, Australia and tropical America. Most of them are liana-shaped annual grasses with alternate, slightly lobed or angular thin leaves. The genus Schizopepon, forming a separate tribe Schizopeponeae, has only 5 species, distributed from North India to East Asia.

Trichosanthus tribe (Trichosaiitheae) includes 10 genera. They are all characterized by long-tubular flowers with fringed or whole petals. Fruits are cylindrical or triangular, often non-opening or opening into three equal parts. The most famous genus is Trichozangpes, to which about 15 species belong, common in Southeast Asia and Australia. The morphological structure of these plants is common for most pumpkin plants - liana-like appearance, wide lobed leaves, unisexual flowers; males are collected in a sparse brush, and females are solitary. Often the petals are spirally bent inward, which is why the long-tubular flowers take on a somewhat unusual appearance. Unripe fruits are edible, so some of these species have been introduced into cultivation. In addition, ripe fruits are often very spectacular, which, together with the abundant lush green leaves, makes the plants very decorative. The monotypic Indo-Malaysian genus Hodgsonia, close to the Trichozantes, is also interesting.

To tribe melothrieae (Melothrieae) includes 34 genera, including the genus cucumber, represented by more than 25 species, distributed mainly in Africa. Only a few species are found in Asia. A number of species are cultivated as food plants for the sake of edible fruits. Among other genera of the tribe, one can also name interesting genera Corallocarpus, Melotria and Kedrostis. The genus cedrostis (about 35 species) is widespread in the tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Madagascar, tropical Asia and Malesia. In the steppes South Africa often you can find liana-like, densely pubescent, gray-green, herbaceous plants creeping on the ground, belonging to the genus Kedrostis.

Subfamily Zanonioideae includes 18 genera, which are united into one tribe. Most of the plants of this subfamily live in countries of the tropical and subtropical zones. The monotypic Iido-Malaysian genus Zanonia most fully characterizes the entire subfamily. Its flowers are dioecious with two or three-celled ovary; fruits - hairy club-shaped capsules, when ripe open with a lid, scattering light winged flattened seeds, which are spread by the wind over long distances. The genus actinostemma, numbering about 6 species, is widespread in East Asia and the Himalayas. All of them are perennial herbaceous vines with climbing stems. One of the species is found within Russia.

Pumpkin vegetables

What are pumpkin vegetables

Pumpkin vegetables Are vegetable plants belonging to the Pumpkin family, in which the fruit is used for food - pumpkin. Watermelon, melon and some types of pumpkin are melons (melons are a special field with sandy or loamy soils in arid steppe regions, where there is a lot of sun, high air temperature, there is no shade and other plants besides the cultivated crop) ..

TO pumpkin vegetables include the following vegetable crops:

• zucchini
• common cucumber
• watermelon
• luffa (bastard gourd)
• common pumpkin
• squash (dish pumpkin)
• chayote edible (Mexican cucumber)
• wax gourd (benicaza, winter gourd)
• momordica dioica (prickly gourd, cantola)
• peruvian cucumber (cyclantera edible)
• antillean cucumber (anguria, horned cucumber, watermelon cucumber, hedgehog cucumber)
• Chinese bitter gourd (momordica charantia, bitter cucumber)
• Kiwano (African cucumber, horned melon)
• snake gourd (serpentine trichozant, snake cucumber)
• dubious tladianta (red cucumber)
• cassabanana (scented sikana, musk cucumber, fragrant pumpkin)
• gourd (common lagenaria, calabash, calabash, calabash, bottle pumpkin, dish pumpkin)
• melotria rough (mouse watermelon, mouse melon, Mexican sour cucumber, Mexican miniature watermelon, sour gherkin)

What is found in pumpkin vegetables:

A bit of botany

Pumpkin vegetables belong to the family of flowering plants of the same name, which is represented by annual or perennial grasses that overwinter with the help of root tubers or the lower parts of the stem; rarely shrubs and shrubs.

Plants of the pumpkin family are characterized by stems creeping along the ground with antennae clinging to a support or landscape elements, rigid or hairy petioles simple leaves, single axillary or inflorescence flowers, and pumpkin fruit.

Pumpkin is a fruit characteristic of this particular family of plants - a berry-like, multi-seeded fruit with a usually hard outer layer, a fleshy middle and juicy inner layer. The outer layer of the pumpkin is not always woody, as in cucumber and melon it is fleshy.

Pumpkin differs from a berry in a large number of seeds and pericarp structure; this type of fruit is formed only from the lower ovary and includes three carpels. Pumpkin in some plants reaches a very impressive size.

Vegetable pumpkin plants belong to several botanical families pumpkin family:

1. Rod Pumpkin.
2. Common pumpkin is an annual herb with large smooth oval or spherical fleshy pumpkin fruits, covered with a hard crust and containing numerous seeds. The pumpkin keeps well.
3. Zucchini is a bush type of common pumpkin with cylindrical or oblong fruits of green, yellow, cream, black or white color. The surface of the fruit is smooth, warty or ribbed. The most delicious young fruits of a 7-10-day-old ovary with uncoarse seeds. Zucchini is one of the most common zucchini varieties.
4. Squash (dish pumpkin) is a type of common pumpkin, an annual herb cultivated everywhere. The fruits of the plant are plate-shaped or bell-shaped with jagged edges; yellow, white, green, orange color. For food, young fruits are used, 5-7-day-old ovaries with dense pulp and uncoarse seeds.

The fruits of pumpkin, squash and squash are usually eaten after heat treatment: stewed, boiled, fried, baked. Pumpkin is puree for baby food; from squash and pumpkin - caviar. Squash and squash are canned and pickled.

5. Genus Cucumber.
6. Common cucumber (sowing cucumber) has a juicy polyspermous, green color, usually with pronounced pimples fruit. The fruits of a cucumber of a 5-7 day old ovary with underdeveloped seeds are used for food. As it ripens, the skin becomes coarser, the seeds are tough, and the flesh is tasteless. Cucumber is usually eaten raw, added to salads, canned, salted, pickled.
7. Melon is a melon culture, in our understanding it is more a fruit than a vegetable. The melon fruit is spherical or elongated, green, yellow, brownish or white in color. Melon fruit weighs up to 10 kg. Ripe fruits are eaten; melon takes 2-6 months to ripen. Melon contains up to 18% sugars. Melon is often eaten raw, candied fruits are also made from it, dried.
8. Anguria (Antillean cucumber, horned cucumber, watermelon cucumber, hedgehog cucumber) - cultivated plant American Indian growing in the tropics and subtropics. It has small (up to 8 cm long, 4 cm in diameter, weight 30-50 grams) cylindrical fruits covered with fleshy soft thorns. Young green fruits taste like a regular cucumber. Ripe yellow-orange fruits are not edible.
9. Kiwano (African cucumber, horned melon) is a herbaceous vine cultivated in America, New Zealand, and Israel. The fruit looks like a small oval melon with soft sparse thorns. Fruit weight up to 200 grams. Ripe fruits are yellow, orange or red, green jelly-like flesh with numerous light green seeds up to 1 cm long, hard, inedible peel. Kiwano tastes like banana and cucumber. Eaten fresh, added to milk and fruit cocktails, salads, canned. Rich in vitamin C and B vitamins.

   Pumpkin vegetables

10. Rod Luffa.
    Usually, washcloths, filters, rugs are made from the fruits of plants of this genus, insulating materials... Annual creepers such as Egyptian Luffa and Sharp-ribbed Luffa are cultivated as vegetables.
11. Egyptian luffa (cylindrical luffa), cultivated in countries with tropical and subtropical climates, has smooth cylindrical or club-shaped fruits without ribs up to 50-70 cm long, 6-10 cm in diameter.
12. Luffa sharp-ribbed (luffa faceted), growing in Pakistan and India and brought to a number of other countries, has a club-shaped fruit with protruding longitudinal ribs, up to 30-35 cm long, 6-10 cm in diameter.

The pulp of young fruits is juicy and slightly sweetish, reminiscent of cucumber in taste. As the luffa fruit ripens, its flesh becomes dry and fibrous. Young fruits are eaten raw, stewed, boiled, canned.

13. Rod Chayote.
    Edible chayote (Mexican cucumber) is a perennial climbing plant reaching 20 meters in length, cultivated in countries with tropical and subtropical climates. Edible chayote forms up to 10 root tubers with white pulp weighing up to 10 kg. Fruits are round or pear-shaped with a thin, strong skin; whitish, light yellow or green; 7-20 cm long and weighing up to a kilogram. Inside the fruit is one white flat-oval seed 3-5 cm in size. The flesh of the fruit is sweetish juicy, rich in starch. All parts of the plant are edible. Most often, unripe fruits are eaten (stewed, boiled, raw are added to salads). The seeds are fried. The tubers are cooked like potatoes. Since the edible chayote tubers are used for food, it can also be attributed to tuberous vegetables.
14. Rod Watermelon.
    Watermelon is an annual herb, melon culture. The fruit of the watermelon is spherical, oval; fruit color from white and yellow to dark green with a pattern in the form of stripes or spots; the pulp is very juicy, sweet, usually red, pink or raspberry, rarely yellow or whitish. Watermelon pulp contains up to 13% of easily digestible sugars. Watermelon is eaten raw as a fruit, less often salted.
15. The genus of Benicaza.
    Benicaza (wax gourd, winter gourd) is a herbaceous vine cultivated in the countries of South, Southeast, East Asia. Fruits are spherical or oblong in shape, large, on average 35 cm in length, but up to 2 meters. Young fruits are velvety, as they ripen, they are covered with a waxy coating, so they can be stored for a long time. Wax gourd is eaten raw, candies and sweets are made from it, boiled. The seeds are eaten fried; young greens can be used in salads.
16. Rod of Momordik.
17. Momordica harantia (bitter cucumber, Chinese bitter gourd) is an annual herbaceous vine grown in warm climates mainly in South and Southeast Asia. Fruits are medium in size (10 cm long, 4 cm in diameter) with a rough surface, wrinkled, warty. The shape of the pumpkin is oval, fusiform. Unripe green fruits with dense, juicy, crunchy pale green pulp have a bitter taste. As they ripen, the fruits become bright yellow or Orange color become even more bitter. Unripe fruits are eaten, which are soaked for several hours in salted water before stewing or boiling to remove bitterness. Young fruits are preserved. Young shoots with flowers and leaves are stewed. The fruit contains large amounts of iron, calcium, potassium and carotene.
18. Momordica dioecious (prickly gourd, cantola) is another edible cultural momordica that grows in India. Its fruits are oval-round, warty, and turn yellow or orange as they ripen. The fruits are eaten boiled, fried. The fruit is rich in carotene, calcium, phosphorus.
19. Rod of Lagenaria.
    Lagenaria vulgaris (gourd, calabash, calabash, calabash, bottle gourd, dish pumpkin) is an annual liana of the subtopic and tropical zone, cultivated in Africa, China, South Asia, South America, the young fruits of which are eaten, and vessels are made from the old ones, dishes, smoking pipes, musical instruments (the instrument is called "bark"). Unripe fruits with loose flesh and bitter taste are used for food. Edible oil is made from seeds.
20. Genus Cyclanter.
    Cyclantera is an edible (Peruvian cucumber) native to South America, cultivated in the tropics and subtropics. Small oval, narrowed at both ends, fruits (length 5-7 cm, diameter 3 cm) with thick juicy walls and 8-10 black seeds in the inner cavity are eaten young (when the skin of the fruit is green). When ripe, the pumpkin becomes creamy or pale green. Salads are made from raw fruits, or stewed vegetables are used. Young shoots and flowers are also used for food.
21. Rod Trichozant.
    Trichozant serpentine (snake gourd, snake cucumber) is a herbaceous vine cultivated in the tropics and subtropics of Australia, South and Southeast Asia. The fruit is very long, reaching up to 1.5 meters in length and up to 10 cm in diameter, in the process of growth it often acquires bizarre bends. The color of the ripe fruit is orange, the skin is thin, the flesh is red, slimy, tender. A very popular pumpkin vegetable in Asian cuisine. The greens of the plant (leaves, stems, tendrils) are used in cooking as a green vegetable for salads.
22. Rod Melotria.
    Melotria rough (mouse melon, mouse watermelon, Mexican sour cucumber, Mexican miniature watermelon, sour gherkin) is a perennial herbaceous vine, sometimes cultivated for the sake of small (2-3 cm in length) edible fruits that taste like cucumbers. The fruits are eaten unripe. In addition to the rounded-oval green-striped pumpkin fruits, the plant produces edible tubers comparable in size and shape to sweet potato tubers. Tuber weight reaches 400 grams. Tubers, the taste is a cross between a radish and a cucumber) are used in salads, the fruits are eaten raw, canned, pickled.
23. Rod of Tladiant.
    Doubtful tladianta (red cucumber) is a perennial herbaceous vine that grows in the Russian Far East, Primorsky Territory, and Northeastern China. It is cultivated to a limited extent as an edible and ornamental plant. Ripe fruits are similar in size and shape to small cucumbers, only soft red with barely noticeable stripes. Fruit pulp is sweet, contains many small dark seeds. Ripe fruits are picked when ripe at the end of September. They eat it raw, make jam, jam. Green fruits can be canned in the same way as cucumbers.
24. Rod of Sikan.
    Cassabanana (fragrant sikana, musk cucumber, fragrant pumpkin) is a large herbaceous vine cultivated in the tropical zone of South and Central America. Ripe fruits are red, orange, burgundy or purple, elongated, slightly curved, large (up to 60 cm in length, 11 cm in diameter and weighing up to 4 kg) with a glossy smooth rind. The pulp is orange or yellow in color, very sweet and juicy, tastes like a melon. In the center of the fruit is a fleshy kernel with many oval seeds. Young Sikan pumpkins are eaten raw in salads, fried, added to soups and meat dishes. From ripe fruits, you can cook jam, make jam, but it is most delicious to eat raw. Stores well.

Application of pumpkin vegetables

Pumpkin vegetables are widely used in the diet. They are stewed, baked, fried, eaten raw, added to salads, pickled and salted, and even caviar and mashed potatoes are made. Pumpkin and zucchini are widely used in baby and diet food. Some pumpkin seeds (such as watermelon, melon, and ripe cassabanana) are eaten as fruit. Pumpkin vegetables are rich in vitamin C, carotene, B vitamins and trace elements.

For medicinal purposes, pumpkin vegetables are used more often to improve metabolism and digestion and the activity of the gastrointestinal tract, as a diuretic and choleretic. Cucumber is actively used in cosmetology as a component of lotions and creams, it helps the skin get rid of acne and makes it velvety. Pumpkin seeds and edible cyclantera seeds have an anthelmintic effect.

Pumpkin fruits, tops and old chayote tubers are used in animal husbandry as feed. Zucchini fruits are also used for feeding poultry and some livestock.

Parts of pumpkin plants are also used for non-food purposes. So, hats and mats are woven from chayote and gorlyka stubs, washcloths are made from loofah. Bottle gourds are still used to make dishes, as well as pipes, musical instruments, and souvenirs.

Many plants of the pumpkin family are climbing vines, capable of clinging to a support with their antennae. Therefore, some plants (for example, the Peruvian cucumber) are used as decorative street bindweed, to create shady gazebos and decorate balconies and walls of buildings.

Additionally

Order Pumpkin - Cucurbitales

Family Pumpkin - Cucurbitaceae

The family includes mainly herbaceous plants, less often shrubs. They are distributed mainly in the tropics of both hemispheres. Pumpkin seeds with edible fruits: watermelons, cucumbers, melons, pumpkins - are cultivated by humans very widely. Watermelon is the most drought-resistant of all pumpkin seeds, and in our country its best varieties are bred in the south: in the Volga region, the steppe southern regions and in Central Asia. This is not surprising, since the closest relative of cultivated watermelons is common watermelon(Citrullus vulgaris) grows in the African deserts - Kalahari and others. Another type of watermelon lives in dry regions of Iran, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan - colo-screw(Citrullus colocynthis), whose bitter fruits have medicinal value.

We will study the structure of flowers and fruits in pumpkin seeds using several examples.

Rice. 113. Pumpkin family. Sowing cucumber (Cucumis sativus): 1 - part of a flowering shoot; 2 - pistillate flower (the corolla is cut); 3 - sectional staminate flower. Pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo): 4 - cross-section of a pumpkin ovary. Step (Bryonia): 5 - normal and 6 - double (fused from two) stamens. Coloquint (Cyrtullus colocynthis): 7 - double stamen; 8 - pumpkin androecium and gynoecium; 9 - diagrams of pumpkin flowers (the original five-membered flowers are shown)

Sowing cucumber (Cucumis sativus) (Fig. 113, 1, 2, 3). For studies, herbarium samples of the plant in flowers, flowers and young (taken immediately after flowering) fruit, stored in alcohol, are needed.

Pumpkin plants: fruit and ornamental

In addition to the usual equipment, you also need a razor. Examining the herbarium specimen, we note the following:

1) recumbent pentahedral stems, which often give adventitious roots at the nodes and take root;

2) simple unbranched antennae, which is a very important generic feature of cucumber and melon, in contrast to watermelon and pumpkin, which have branched antennae;

3) leaves are cordate at the base, five-lobed, and, unlike melon, the lobes of cucumber leaves are sharp;

4) stems and petioles of leaves, pedicels and ovaries of flowers are rough-haired;

5) the flowers are dioecious, the staminate ones sit in bunches, and the pistillate ones are often solitary in the leaf axils.

Having laid the pistil flower on the magnifying glass table, we will examine it and, having placed the YuKhokulyar, we will get acquainted with the thorns covering the surface of the ovary and the cucumber fruit.

These thorns turn out to be modified hairs, at the base of which there are swollen cells that look like warts. At the top of each of them there is a sharp point - strong, even a little woody. This is why young cucumbers are often prickly. If we look at the hairs covering the calyx, we will make sure that their main cells are much thinner, the hairs are multicellular and less rigid than on the ovary.

We now turn to the analysis of the perianth. The cup and rim have grown together. The number of sepals and corolla lobes is equal to five, the flowers are yellow. To consider internal structure flower, open the tube with a needle and unfold it. In the center of the female flower, we will see a short massive column with the same massive three-lobed stigma at the top. It should be noted that each lobe of the stigma is bipartite, in turn, so it gives the impression of a six-lobed one. Considering the blades of the stigma, we will notice what a huge perceiving surface it has! All six of its massive processes are covered with a thick layer of papillae. At the base of the corolla tube, we will notice a white massive corrugated ring - these are nectar scales together with an underdeveloped androecium adherent to them.

The last stage of our work with a female flower will be the analysis of its ovary. The easiest way to understand its structure is on the cuts of young fruitlets. Take such a fruit and cut it across a little above the middle. Then we trim the edge of the bottom, halves of the fruit with a razor and make as thin a cross-section as possible. The study will be carried out in a droplet of water at 20 X eyepiece of the magnifying glass.

At first glance at the cut, it will seem to us that the ovary is three-celled. However, having examined it carefully, we note that each nest is still divided in half by a very thin film (usually the ovary of a flower, poorly visible on the cuts). The ovary is six-celled, although these secondary septa are often incomplete. On pumpkin flower diagrams, they are indicated by a dotted line. Consider the placenta. Each of them protrudes into the ovary and bifurcates at its outer wall, its ends are bent to the side, and ovules are located on them. As a result, each placenta looks like an umbrella in section. The fruit of the cucumber is berry-like, the so-called pumpkin.

After the work just completed, the analysis of the male cucumber flower will no longer present much difficulty. Let's open and unfold his tube. Sepals and corolla lobes are also in the number of five here, and pubescence is less rigid than that of a female flower. The receptacle is saucer-shaped, on it are stamens, often fused with anthers into a common head. When the flower unfolds, the stamens are separated from each other and turn out to be composed of three groups: two large and one smaller. There are only five stamens here, four of them have grown together in pairs, and one is free.

We will take a closer look at this free stamen. The filament is short, wide, its anthers are long; they are w-shaped and bend and fit on a wide binder. The liaison at its apex gives a large bipartite outgrowth. The anthers are bilocular and open with a longitudinal slit, and a dense brush of hairs is visible at the edges of them, adherent to the connective. These hairs are sticky, their secretions, staining the insect, contribute to the adhesion of pollen to its body. In the center of the male flower, around the underdeveloped pistil, there are five calloused thickenings, sometimes significantly merged with each other, and only three tubercles protrude on the annular swollen base - these are nectaries.

The homeland of cucumber and melon is India.

Pumpkin(Cucurbita pepo). The huge flowers of the pumpkin are easy to study. It is better to harvest them in the form of buds (male and female). Pumpkin flowers are axillary, solitary. Exploring them, we note the following:

1) In male flowers, the stamens have also grown into groups: 2 + 2 + 1 (free). However, this is noticeable only at the base of their massive filaments, where there are small holes between them - windows leading into the flower. The upper part of the filaments and all their anthers have grown together into one large column, dotted on the surface with loop-like pollen sacs.

Then we open the stamen tube with a needle and bend the stamens to the side. At the top of the receptacle, around the underdeveloped pistil, we will see a nectar roller, the passage to which for insects is possible only through the windows remaining at the base of the staminate column. The process of stamen accretion in the pumpkin, therefore, has gone further than we have seen in the cucumber. To make sure that three groups of stamens have grown together here, we cut the staminate tube across, slightly above its base, and we will see that the tube consists, as it were, of three bundles of filaments adherent to each other.

2) The structure of the pistillate flower is the same as in the previous species.

It is also good to compare the flowers of a watermelon with male flowers of a pumpkin, in which you can find stamens that are in all possible stages of accretion with each other: 2 + 2 + 1; 2 + 1 + 1 + 1; 3 + 2. In female flowers of watermelons, rudiments of stamens are also frequent, and in male flowers one can see an underdeveloped and even lobed stigma. Melon has bisexual flowers. We can therefore conclude that dioeciousness in pumpkin is a secondary phenomenon. Flower formulas: male - K (5) C (5) A (2) + (2) +1; female - K (5) C (5) G- (3).

Rice. 114. Bellflower family. Sprawling bell (Campanula patula): 1 - flowering shoot; 2 - longitudinal section of the flower (petals and part of the stamens are removed); 3 - successive stages of development of stamens and pistil; 4 - mature capsule. Mountain bug (Jasione montana): 5 - inflorescence. Ostrowskya majestic (Ostrowskya magnifica): 6 - flower and box; 7 - diagram of a bellflower flower

Having studied the herbaceous forms of pumpkin, we can conclude that their stems are climbing or recumbent - lashes, clinging with the help of tendrils growing from the axils of the leaves (i.e. tendrils of stem origin). A characteristic feature of the family is also the domination of dioecious flowers, and pumpkin can be both monoecious and dioecious. The ovary is always inferior with lateral parietal placenta. The pistil is formed most often by three accrete carpels.

The family includes mainly herbaceous plants, less often shrubs. They are distributed mainly in the tropics of both hemispheres. Pumpkin seeds with edible fruits: watermelons, cucumbers, melons, pumpkins - are cultivated by humans very widely. Watermelon is the most drought-resistant of all pumpkin seeds, and in our country its best varieties are bred in the south: in the Volga region, the steppe southern regions and in Central Asia. This is not surprising, since the closest relative of cultivated watermelons is common watermelon(Citrullus vulgaris) grows in the African deserts - Kalahari and others. Another type of watermelon lives in dry regions of Iran, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan - colo-screw(Citrullus colocynthis), whose bitter fruits have medicinal value.

We will study the structure of flowers and fruits in pumpkin seeds using several examples.

Sowing cucumber (Cucumis sativus) (Fig. 113, 1, 2, 3). For studies, herbarium samples of the plant in flowers, flowers and young (taken immediately after flowering) fruit, stored in alcohol, are needed. In addition to the usual equipment, you also need a razor. Examining the herbarium specimen, we note the following:

1) recumbent pentahedral stems, which often give adventitious roots at the nodes and take root;

2) simple unbranched antennae, which is a very important generic feature of cucumber and melon, in contrast to watermelon and pumpkin, which have branched antennae;

3) leaves are cordate at the base, five-lobed, and, unlike melon, the lobes of cucumber leaves are sharp;

4) stems and petioles of leaves, pedicels and ovaries of flowers are rough-haired;

5) the flowers are dioecious, the staminate ones sit in bunches, and the pistillate ones are often solitary in the leaf axils.

Having laid the pistil flower on the magnifying glass table, we will examine it and, having placed the YuKhokulyar, we will get acquainted with the thorns covering the surface of the ovary and the cucumber fruit.

These thorns turn out to be modified hairs, at the base of which there are swollen cells that look like warts. At the top of each of them there is a sharp point - strong, even a little woody. This is why young cucumbers are often prickly. If we look at the hairs covering the calyx, we will make sure that their main cells are much thinner, the hairs are multicellular and less rigid than on the ovary.

We now turn to the analysis of the perianth. The cup and rim have grown together. The number of sepals and corolla lobes is equal to five, the flowers are yellow. To examine the internal structure of a flower, open its tube with a needle and unfold it. In the center of the female flower, we will see a short massive column with the same massive three-lobed stigma at the top. It should be noted that each lobe of the stigma is bipartite, therefore it gives the impression of a six-lobed one. Considering the blades of the stigma, we will notice what a huge perceiving surface it has! All six of its massive processes are covered with a thick layer of papillae. At the base of the corolla tube, we will notice a white massive corrugated ring - these are nectar scales together with an underdeveloped androecium adherent to them.

The last stage of our work with a female flower will be the analysis of its ovary. The easiest way to understand its structure is on the cuts of young fruitlets. Take such a fruit and cut it across a little above the middle. Then we trim the edge of the bottom, halves of the fruit with a razor and make as thin a cross-section as possible. The study will be carried out in a droplet of water at 20 X eyepiece of the magnifying glass.

At first glance at the cut, it will seem to us that the ovary is three-celled. However, having examined it carefully, we note that each nest is still divided in half by a very thin film (usually the ovary of a flower, poorly visible on the cuts). The ovary is six-celled, although these secondary septa are often incomplete. On pumpkin flower diagrams, they are indicated by a dotted line. Consider the placenta. Each of them protrudes into the ovary and bifurcates at its outer wall, its ends are bent to the side, and ovules are located on them. As a result, each placenta looks like an umbrella in section. The fruit of the cucumber is berry-like, the so-called pumpkin.

After the work just completed, the analysis of the male cucumber flower will no longer present much difficulty. Let's open and unfold his tube. Sepals and corolla lobes are also in the number of five here, and pubescence is less rigid than that of a female flower. The receptacle is saucer-shaped, on it are stamens, often fused with anthers into a common head. When the flower unfolds, the stamens are separated from each other and turn out to be composed of three groups: two large and one smaller. There are only five stamens here, four of them have grown together in pairs, and one is free.

We will take a closer look at this free stamen. The filament is short, wide, its anthers are long; they are w-shaped and bend and fit on a wide binder. The liaison at its apex gives a large bipartite outgrowth. The anthers are bilocular and open with a longitudinal slit, and a dense brush of hairs is visible at the edges of them, adherent to the connective. These hairs are sticky, their secretions, staining the insect, contribute to the adhesion of pollen to its body. In the center of the male flower, around the underdeveloped pistil, there are five calloused thickenings, sometimes significantly merged with each other, and only three tubercles protrude on the annular swollen base - these are nectaries.

The homeland of cucumber and melon is India.

Pumpkin(Cucurbita pepo). The huge flowers of the pumpkin are easy to study. It is better to harvest them in the form of buds (male and female). Pumpkin flowers are axillary, solitary. Exploring them, we note the following:

1) In male flowers, the stamens have also grown into groups: 2 + 2 + 1 (free). However, this is noticeable only at the base of their massive filaments, where there are small holes between them - windows leading into the flower. The upper part of the filaments and all their anthers have grown together into one large column, dotted on the surface with loop-like pollen sacs.

Then we open the stamen tube with a needle and bend the stamens to the side. At the top of the receptacle, around the underdeveloped pistil, we will see a nectar roller, the passage to which for insects is possible only through the windows remaining at the base of the staminate column. The process of stamen accretion in the pumpkin, therefore, has gone further than we have seen in the cucumber. To make sure that three groups of stamens have grown together here, we cut the staminate tube across, slightly above its base, and we will see that the tube consists, as it were, of three bundles of filaments adherent to each other.

2) The structure of the pistillate flower is the same as in the previous species.

It is also good to compare the flowers of a watermelon with male flowers of a pumpkin, in which you can find stamens that are in all possible stages of accretion with each other: 2 + 2 + 1; 2 + 1 + 1 + 1; 3 + 2. In female flowers of watermelons, rudiments of stamens are also frequent, and in male flowers one can see an underdeveloped and even lobed stigma. Melon has bisexual flowers. We can therefore conclude that dioeciousness in pumpkin is a secondary phenomenon. Flower formulas: male - K (5) C (5) A (2) + (2) +1; female - K (5) C (5) G - (3).

Having studied the herbaceous forms of pumpkin, we can conclude that their stems are climbing or recumbent - lashes, clinging with the help of tendrils growing from the axils of the leaves (that is, tendrils of stem origin). A characteristic feature of the family is also the domination of dioecious flowers, and pumpkin can be both monoecious and dioecious. The ovary is always inferior with lateral parietal placenta. The pistil is formed most often by three accrete carpels.

Pumpkin plants are represented by annual or perennial, creeping or climbing grasses, less often shrubs. The pumpkin family includes about 900 species. The most common are: cucumber, pumpkin, squash, melon and watermelon.

Each pumpkin loves light very much, so it can only grow in an open, sunny place. In addition, they are very thermophilic, therefore, the temperate climate can negate all attempts to grow some crops, such as watermelon and melon.

Structure

The shoot of a pumpkin plant is usually creeping or climbing with antennae, which is a modified lateral stem. The leaf is simple, alternate, dissected to varying degrees. Flowers can be actinomorphic, unisexual, solitary, or collected in an axillary inflorescence. The perianth and base of the stamens usually look like a tube fused with the ovary. The corolla can be spliced, five-lobed, more often yellow. The number of stamens is 5, sometimes 2. The pistil contains 3, and sometimes 5 carpels. The ovary is lower and the fruit is pumpkin.

The oldest members of the family

Ancient man must have collected wild edible plants such as beans and peas, or root vegetables such as carrots. It is believed that these vegetables, as well as lettuce and cabbage, were grown in their gardens by primitive people. The latter are characterized by developed and tasty leaves.

The ancient Egyptians favored various types of lettuce, cabbage, beans, watermelons, radishes, onions, and artichokes. That is, even thousands of years ago, a person's dining table could boast of a good selection of vegetables.

The ancient Romans and Greeks cultivated the same vegetables as the Egyptians, but added cucumbers, asparagus and celery to the list.

In general, the most ancient members of the pumpkin family are cucumbers and watermelons.

The most popular members of the family

The pumpkin family includes:

• Cucumbers are the most common in the world.The main positive point is the fact that cucumbers can be grown all year round - in winter and spring in heated greenhouses, in spring and summer - in ordinary greenhouses, hotbeds and small-sized film shelters, and in summer and autumn - in the open field. Cucumbers - ancient representatives of the pumpkin family - are annual herbaceous plants and are the most heat-demanding. Normal growth can provide a temperature of at least 25-27 degrees, otherwise the plant stops developing.

• Pumpkin - annual plant with male and female single flowers. The fruit grows large and multi-seeded. 5-7-lobed leaves are located on the pentahedral stem. Some varieties can produce fruits up to 90 kg. A bush type of pumpkin is called a squash. Country of origin - Mexico, pumpkin came to Europe in the 16th century.

Melons and watermelons

Melons and watermelons are melons, especially demanding on air temperature and soil.

Melon is an annual plant that belongs to the pumpkin family. Flowers are often unisexual, less often bisexual. The male flower is usually gathered in a bunch, while the female flower is single and very large. The fruit is fragrant and juicy.

Watermelon is a plant that is characterized by recumbent wattle, deep pinnately dissected leaves and many tripartite tendrils. The pulp of the fruit is blood red and sweet. The juice contains up to 5% sugar. The birthplace of watermelon is Africa, where representatives of the wild coloquint watermelon grow, for which small fruit (no more than a walnut) and tough pulp are characteristic.

Pumpkin

The pumpkin, of course, belongs to the pumpkin family. Which plants are fodder and which can be put on the table? The first is characterized by a huge size and weight, and the second meets completely different requirements - a small size, good taste and a high content of nutrient and healing substances.

Pumpkin is a very ancient culture that grew in America 3 thousand years ago. After the New World was discovered, the plant was introduced to Europe. Currently, many southern regions believe that this is the original Russian culture.

The nutritional value

The pumpkin family is rich in sugar, carotene, various vitamins, namely B1, B2, B6, C, E, PP, T. The latter significantly speeds up the digestion process, and also facilitates the assimilation of meat and other heavy foods.

Pumpkin contains salts of such substances as phosphoric acid, potassium, magnesium, and if you take into account the amount of iron, then it can be called a champion among vegetables. In addition, it is high in potassium and pectin, which block the onset of inflammation in the large intestine.

Knowledgeable people assure that pumpkin porridge, often eaten, has a miraculous healing effect against hypertension, obesity and metabolic disorders. And insomnia can be cured or pumpkin decoction with honey.

The seeds of this miraculous vegetable are an absolutely safe anthelmintic.

About pumpkin types

Large-fruited pumpkin is the most cold-resistant, but ripens much later than hard-barked. The stem of the plant is cylindrical. The fruit is characterized by such indicators as large size, long shelf life, high palatability and a large number of seeds.

Hard-barked pumpkin is not afraid of sudden temperature fluctuations. The stem is faceted, grooved. The fruit is characterized by a small size, a woody crust and a prickly subulate prolapse.

It is considered the most thermophilic and late maturing, often long-leaved, without a bushy form. The stem is represented by a rounded-faceted shape. The fruit is small or medium, has an elongated shape and narrowed in the middle. The pulp has an orange color and a nutmeg aroma.

In addition, among amateur vegetable growers, the following are very popular: dining, fodder, gymnosperms, decorative and dish pumpkins. Their biological characteristics are not very different from those described above.

Medicinal properties of pumpkin seeds

The pumpkin family includes an undeniably useful representative - pumpkin. It contains a huge amount of vitamins and minerals that are very beneficial to human health.

Moreover, this vegetable is highly prized in the field of beauty. So, with the help of a pumpkin mask, you can smooth the skin and replenish the vitamin supply, cure acne and various kinds of eczema.