Seed ID


Cucurbitaceae


Plant Photo Scientific Name Common Name and Description Seed Photo
Watermelon Citrullus vulgaris Common Name: Watermelon
Leaves: Ovate to ovate-oblong in out line, to 2 dm long, cordate at base, pinnately deeply divided into 3 or 4 pairs of lobes and these again lobed and toothed
Flowers: Small, solitary in the axils, corolla about 4 cm across, rotate, with 5 lobes obovate and obtuse
Fruit: Globular or oblong, sometimes to 6 dm long, glabrous, with a green or variously striped hard but not durable rind and sweet juicy red, yellow or greenish flesh; seeds numerous, black, white, or reddish, flat, smooth, to 15 mm long
Habitat: Locally abundant in sandy soils in several localities, especially in east and south Texas
Range: Native of tropical and warm temerature Africa
Group: Dicot
Family: Cucurbitaceae
Growth Habit: Vine/Forb/Herb - pubescent annual with long-running prostrate leafy stems
Duration: Annual
U.S. Nativity: Introduced
Watermelon
Buffalo gourd Cucurbita foetidissima Common Name: Buffalo Gourd or Calabacilla Loca
Leaves: Coarse and thick, triangular-ovate, at most shallowly angulate-lobed, broadly rounded to cordate at base, acute to acuminate at apex, growing to at least 3 dm long, nauseously ill-smelling (especially when bruised), grayish-green, rough to touch
Flowers: Corolla to 1 dm long, flaring above the middle
Fruit: Mostly globose, green with lighter stripes, lemon-yellow when ripe, to 75 mm in diameter
Habitat: In sandy or gravelly soils in waste places, especially along roadsides
Range: Primarily in the west half of Texas; Missouri and Nebraska south to Texas, Arizona, southern California, and Mexico
Group: Dicot
Family: Cucurbitaceae
Growth Habit: Vine/Forb/Herb - rank growing and rampant, with a frequently huge fusiform perennial root producing numerous widely running stems to 6 m
Duration: Annual
U.S. Nativity: Native
Buffalo gourd
Maxima Cucurbita maxima Common Name: Winter Squash
Leaves:
Flowers: Large orange-yellow pistillate flowers in leaf axils, staminate flowers on stalks
Fruit: Large green to orange
Habitat: Well drained, fertile, frost-free soils
Range: North America and Caribbean
Group: Dicot
Family: Cucurbitaceae
Growth Habit: Vine/Forb/Herb - sprawling prickly stems, tendrils opposite large leaves
Duration: Annual
U.S. Nativity: Introduced
Maxima
Moschata Cucurbita moschata Common Name: Field Pumpkin, Butternut Squash, Seminole Pumpkin, or Crookneck Squash
Leaves:
Flowers: Large orange-yellow pistillate flowers in leaf axils, staminate flowers on stalks
Fruit: Large green to orange
Habitat: Well drained, fertile, frost-free soils
Range: North America and Caribbean
Group: Dicot
Family: Cucurbitaceae
Growth Habit: Vine/Forb/Herb -
Duration: Annual
U.S. Nativity: Introduced
Moschata
Bottle gourd Lagenaria siceraria - A monotypic genus Common Name: Bottle Gourd or White-Flowered Gourd
Leaves: Ovate to ovate-reniform and cordate-based, 15-30 cm wide, usually not lobed, margins apiculate-dentate
Flowers: On long peduncles and commonly surpassing the leaves, anthers only slightly coherent
Fruit: To 3 dm long or more, varying from disk-shaped to nearly globular and bottle-shaped, dumbell-shaped, club-shaped, crooknecked or coiled, with a hard usually greenish or tan but sometimes striped or mottled durable shell, occasionally knobby or ridged; seeds tan to brown, ridged on the margins and cornered, oblong to squarish
Habitat: In sandy or gravelly soils in waste places, especially along roadsides
Range: Old world origin, but cultivated throughout the world, sometimes spontaneous in east and south Texas
Group: Dicot
Family: Cucurbitaceae
Growth Habit: Vine/Forb/Herb - musky-scented soft viscid-pubescent monoecous (staminate and pistillate flowers on same plant) or rarely dioecious (staminate and pistillate flowers on different plant) annual vine with branched tendrils
Duration: Annual
U.S. Nativity: Introduced
Bottle gourd


References:

Thumbnails of the plant photos were copied from those photos produced by the Texas A&M Bioinformatics Working Group which can be found at the Vascular Plant Image Gallery in the Flowering Gateway. When clicking on the thumbnail your are taken to their originals.

Thumbnails and enlargements of seed photos are from my own personal collection.

Some plant information has been taken from these sources:

  • Manual of the Vascular Plants of Texas, Donovan S. Correll and Marshall C. Johnston, University of Texas at Dallas, 1979.

  • USDA, NRCS. 2001. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.1. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

  • Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of the Southwest: A guide for the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas, Robert A. Vines, University of Texas Press, 1994.