Cayaponia
Cayaponia is among the largest genera in the gourd family, Cucurbitaceae, with 74 species. The plants are referred to as melonleaf. They are common from the southern United States to South America. Some species are also found in western Africa, Madagascar, and Fernando de Noronha, which is about off the coast of Brazil.
Species
GENUS
- KingdomPlantae
- PhylumTracheophyta
- ClassMagnoliopsida
- OrderCucurbitales
- FamilyCucurbitaceae
Native toAlabama, Angola, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Arkansas, Bahamas, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South
via GBIF · Kew POWO
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- taxon
- Parent taxon
- Cucurbiteae
- Image
- Cayaponia pilosa - Jardim Botânico de São Paulo - IMG 0288.jpg
Article
2 sectionsContents
- Species
- References
Cayaponia is among the largest genera in the gourd family, Cucurbitaceae, with 74 species. The plants are referred to as melonleaf. They are common from the southern United States to South America. Some species are also found in western Africa, Madagascar, and Fernando de Noronha, which is about off the coast of Brazil.
Most species are found in rainforests and have white or yellow-green flowers. The ancestral mode of pollination in Cayaponia was inferred as pollinated by bats, but at least two shifts to bee pollination are inferred among some of its species. This is apparently the first clade to shift from bat to bee pollination vice bee to bat pollination. A 2011 phylogenetioc study placed the genus Selysia under this genus.