Taxonomy of the Genus Cucumis

• Todd C. Wehner
• Department of Horticultural Science
• North Carolina State University
• Raleigh, NC 27695-7609

Introduction. The taxonomy of Cucumis has been reviewed by several researchers, the most recent J.H. Kirkbride Jr. (1993).

Excluded names include Cucumis asper, which is Cucumella aspera.

Taxonomy. The 32 species of the genus Cucumis are classified as follows:

1. Cucumis subgenus Melo
   1. Cucumis section Aculeatosi
      1. Cucumis series Myriocarpi
         1. Cucumis myriocarpus
            1. Cucumis myriocarpus subspecies myriocarpus
            2. Cucumis myriocarpus subspecies leptodermis
         2. Cucumis africanus
         3. Cucumis quintanilhae
         4. Cucumis heptadactylus
         5. Cucumis kalahariensis
      2. Cucumis series Angurioidei
         6. Cucumis anguria
            1. Cucumis anguria variety anguria
            2. Cucumis anguria variety longaculeatus
         7. Cucumis sacleuxii
         8. Cucumis carolinus
         9. Cucumis dipsaceus
         10. Cucumis prophetarum
             1. Cucumis prophetarum subspecies prophetarum
             2. Cucumis prophetarum subspecies dissectus
         11. Cucumis pubituberculatus
         12. Cucumis zeyheri
         13. Cucumis prolatior
         14. Cucumis insignis
         15. Cucumis globosus
         16. Cucumis thulinianus
         17. Cucumis ficifolius
         18. Cucumis aculeatus
         19. Cucumis pustulatus
         20. Cucumis meeusei
         21. Cucumis jeffreyanus
         22. Cucumis hastatus
         23. Cucumis rigidus
         24. Cucumis baladensis
      3. Cucumis series Metuliferi
         25. Cucumis metuliferus
         26. Cucumis rostratus
   2. Cucumis section Melo
      1. Cucumis series Hirsuti
         27. Cucumis hirsutus
      2. Cucumis series Humifructosi
         28. Cucumis humifructus
      3. Cucumis series Melo
         29. Cucumis melo
             1. Cucumis melo subspecies melo
             2. Cucumis melo subspecies agrestis
         30. Cucumis sagittatus
2. Cucumis subgenus Cucumis
   31. Cucumis sativus
       1. Cucumis sativus variety sativus
       2. Cucumis sativus variety hardwickii
   32. Cucumis hystrix