Host an Event Volunteer Join Tickets

Support the plant database you love!

Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

Help us grow by giving to the Plant Database Fund or by becoming a member

Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?

Share

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Search Smarty Plants
See a list of all Smarty Plants questions

Please forgive us, but Mr. Smarty Plants has been overwhelmed by a flood of mail and must take a break for awhile to catch up. We hope to be accepting new questions again soon. Thank you!

Need help with plant identification, visit the plant identification page.

 
rate this answer
Not Yet Rated

Tuesday - March 25, 2008

From: Philadelphia, PA
Region: Mid-Atlantic
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Nomenclatural puzzles
Answered by: Joe Marcus

QUESTION:

Hi Mr. Smarty Plants. I have been looking all day for this information. I am look for a plant that is in the genus Cucumis but not in the family Cucurbitacea. A plant that is in the family Cucurbitacea but not in the order Violales. And a plant that is in the order Violales but not in the subclass Dilleniidae. And a plant that is in the subclass Dilleniidae but not in the class Magnoliopsida. Please Help!!!! Thank you.

ANSWER:

In part, you may to be searching for an answer that doesn't exist.  Although, the heart of your question seems to be getting at the difficulty - and ongoing confusion - created by the various plant naming systems devised over the past 200 years or so.  Insofar as that is the case, we may be able to shed some light on the various parts of your specific question. 

In every classification scheme we know of, the genus Cucumis is placed in the family Cucurbitaceae.  Therefore, if a species is in that genus, it is also in the same family. Because the classification system is hierarchical, any given genus must belong to a single family. In other words the genus, Cucumis, cannot not be assigned to multiple families. It is possible that a species formerly classified in the genus Cucumis is now placed in a different genus outside of Cucurbitaceae but we do not know what it might be.

As for the higher classifications, various taxonomists have devised different classification schemes that often reassign families to different orders.  In the APG (Angiosperm Phylogeny Group) classification system, for example,, the order Violales does not even exist and the family, Cucurbitaceae is placed in order Cucurbitales.

In an older classification system known as the Bentham and Hooker System (named for its authors, George Bentham and Sir Joseph D. Hooker), Cucurbitaceae was placed in the Passiflorales, while placing Violarieae (an older spelling of Violaceae) in order Parietales.

In yet another system of classification, The Reveal System (named for it's author Dr. James Reveal), Dilleniidae is a subclass of the class Rosopsida, while in several other systems it is placed in the class Magnoliopsida.  Some classification system, such as APG, do not recognized classification levels above order.

 

More Plant Identification Questions

Plant identification possibly red buckeye
July 06, 2008 - I encountered a shrub-like plant in the Edwards Plateu noth of Bracketville, and could use your help with identification. It's most distinguishing charactaristics are the seed pod, which has three c...
view the full question and answer

Plant identfication
August 15, 2009 - I have this strange bright orangey-red plant growing in my yard that I have never seen before. It's about 3 inches tall that comes to a point on top and is hollow inside and very soft? What could i...
view the full question and answer

Plant identification of tree in North Carolina
September 07, 2011 - I live in North Carolina have found a tree on our property that has thorny branches and round fruit (perfectly round) with a fuzzy outer layer that starts out green but then turns yellow. The inside r...
view the full question and answer

Plant identification from Springfield MA
July 19, 2009 - We have a house next to us that is vacant. The lawn has not been mowed in months. a tall flower has grown amongst the grass and weeds. It is about 3 to 4 feet tall green stem and the flower is about 2...
view the full question and answer

Smarty Plants on epiphyllums
March 25, 2005 - I don't have a digital cameria, but I hope you can identify my plants easily by description. I believe they are called something similar to the word "epithelium". They look like a "mother-in-la...
view the full question and answer

Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today.