Taxon:  Cucumis africanus L. f.



Summary
Genus:
Cucumis
Subgenus:
Cucumis
Section:
Aculeatosi
Family:
Cucurbitaceae
Tribe:
Benincaseae
Nomen number:
12544
Place of publication:
Suppl. pl. 423.  1782 ("1781")
Verified:
02/05/1996 ARS Systematic Botanists.
Accessions:
51 (49  active, 24  available) in National Plant Germplasm System.  (Map it)
Other conspecific taxa
Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations
Heterotypic Synonym(s)
Cucumis hookeri Naudin

No images


Conservation Status

Reference(s)
  1. PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
  2. APHIS. Agricultural Risk Management System United States Department of Agriculture.
  3. Deakin, J. R. et al. 1971. Interspecific hybridization in Cucumis. Econ. Bot. 25:195-211.
  4. Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960-. Flora zambesiaca.
  5. Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
  6. Kellerman, T. S. et al. 1988. Plant poisonings and mycotoxicoses of livestock in Southern Africa
  7. Kirkbride, J. H., Jr. 1993. Biosystematic monograph of the genus Cucumis (Cucurbitaceae) 31. Note: Parkway Publ., North Carolina
  8. Matsumuto, Y. & M. Miyagi. 2012. Ploidy estimation in West Indian gherkin, horned melon and wild Cucumis spp. by flow cytometry. J. Hort. Forest. 4:111-113.
  9. Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
  10. Schaefer, H. 2007. Cucumis (Cucurbitaceae) must include Cucumella, Dicoelospermum, Mukia, Myrmecosicyos, and Oreosyce: a recircumscription based on nuclear and plastid DNA data. Blumea 52:168.
  11. Sebastian, P. et al. 2010. Cucumber (Cucumis sativus) and melon (C. melo) have numerous wild relatives in Asia and Australia, and the sister species of melon is from Australia. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 107:14269-14273.
  12. Soria, C. et al. 1990. Ten interspecific crosses in the genus Cucumis: A preparatory study to seek crosses resistant to melon yellowing disease. Cucurbit Genet. Coop. Rep. 13:31-33.
Common names
Distribution
order_codeStatusContinentSubcontinentCountryStateNoteReference
1NativeAfricaSouth Tropical AfricaAngola  Kirkbride, J. H., Jr. 1993. Biosystematic monograph of the genus Cucumis (Cucurbitaceae) 31. Note: Parkway Publ., North Carolina
1NativeAfricaSouth Tropical AfricaZimbabwe  Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960-. Flora zambesiaca.
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaBotswana  Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaLesotho  Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaNamibia  Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaSouth AfricaEastern Cape Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaSouth AfricaGauteng Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaSouth AfricaKwaZulu-Natal Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaSouth AfricaLimpopo Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaSouth AfricaMpumalanga Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaSouth AfricaNorthern Cape Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaSouth AfricaNorth-West Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaSouth AfricaWestern Cape Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
Native
Africa
  • SOUTH TROPICAL AFRICA: Angola, Zimbabwe
  • SOUTHERN AFRICA: Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa [Eastern Cape, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, North-West, Western Cape]

Reference(s)
  1. Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960-. Flora zambesiaca.
  2. Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
  3. Kirkbride, J. H., Jr. 1993. Biosystematic monograph of the genus Cucumis (Cucurbitaceae) 31. Note: Parkway Publ., North Carolina
Economic Uses
UsageTypeNoteReference
Vertebrate poisonsmammals Kellerman, T. S. et al. 1988. Plant poisonings and mycotoxicoses of livestock in Southern Africa
Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2026. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://npgstest.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=12544. Accessed 14 April 2026.