Cayaponia
Cayaponia is the largest genus in the gourd family, Cucurbitaceae, with about 60 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 354 km off the coast of Brazil. It is native the southern United States to central South America and the Caribbean islands. Most species are found in rainforests and have white or yellow-green flowers. The original Cayaponia were pollinated by bats, but at least two shifts to bee pollination have occurred 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 study based on genetics placed the genus Selysia under this genus.
Brazilian botanist António Luiz Patricio da Silva Manso named this genus after the indigenous Cayapo people of Brazil.
Species
There are around 120 species in the genus:- Cayaponia africana Exell
- Cayaponia alarici M. Porto
- Cayaponia alata Cogn.
- Cayaponia almeideana Sald. & Cogn.
- Cayaponia amazonica Cogn.
- Cayaponia americana Cogn.
- Cayaponia andreana Cogn.
- Cayaponia angustiloba Cogn.
- Cayaponia attenuata Cogn.
- Cayaponia aubia Rose
- Cayaponia austin-smithii Standl.
- Cayaponia bidentata P. Duchen & S.S. Renner
- Cayaponia biflora Cogn. ex Harms
- Cayaponia boliviensis Cogn.
- Cayaponia bonariensis Mart.
- Cayaponia bonplandii Cogn.
- Cayaponia botryocarpa C. Jeffrey
- Cayaponia boykinii Cogn.
- Cayaponia buraeavii Cogn.
- Cayaponia cabocla Mart.
- Cayaponia calycina Cogn.
- Cayaponia capitata Cogn. ex Harms
- Cayaponia caulobotrys C. Jeffrey
- Cayaponia citrullifolia Cogn.
- Cayaponia coccinea André ex Cogn.
- Cayaponia cogniauxiana Gomes-Klein
- Cayaponia cordata P. Duchen & S.S. Renner
- Cayaponia cordifolia Cogn.
- Cayaponia coriacea Cogn.
- Cayaponia cruegeri Cogn.
- Cayaponia denticulata Killip ex C. Jeffrey
- Cayaponia diffusa Silva Manso
- Cayaponia diversifolia Cogn.
- Cayaponia domingensis H. Schaef. & M. Nee
- Cayaponia dubia Rose
- Cayaponia duckei Harms
- Cayaponia elliptica Silva Manso
- Cayaponia eriantha
- Cayaponia espelina Cogn.
- Cayaponia excisa Cogn.
- Cayaponia ferruginea Gomes-Klein
- Cayaponia ficifolia Cogn.
- Cayaponia flaminensis Cogn.
- Cayaponia floribunda Cogn.
- Cayaponia fluminensis Cogn.
- Cayaponia glandulosa Cogn.
- Cayaponia glazivoii Cogn.
- Cayaponia globosa Silva Manso
- Cayaponia gracillima Cogn.
- Cayaponia granatensis Cogn.
- Cayaponia grandiflora Cogn.
- Cayaponia grandifolia
- Cayaponia guianensis C. Jeffrey
- Cayaponia hammelii Grayum
- Cayaponia heterophylla Cogn.
- Cayaponia hirsuta Cogn.
- Cayaponia jenmanii C. Jeffrey
- Cayaponia kathematophora R.E. Schult.
- Cayaponia laciniosa C. Jeffrey
- Cayaponia latebrosa Cogn.
- Cayaponia latifolia Cogn.
- Cayaponia laxa Cogn. ex Harms
- Cayaponia leucosticta Standl.
- Cayaponia lhotskyana Cogn.
- Cayaponia longifolia Cogn.
- Cayaponia longiloba A.K. Monro
- Cayaponia macrantha Pittier
- Cayaponia macrocalyx Harms
- Cayaponia martiana Cogn.
- Cayaponia maximowiczii Cogn.
- Cayaponia membranacea Gomes-Klein
- Cayaponia metensis Cuatrec.
- Cayaponia micrantha Cogn.
- Cayaponia microdonta S.F. Blake
- Cayaponia multiglandulosa R. Fern.
- Cayaponia nitida Gomes-Klein & Pirani
- Cayaponia noronhae C. Jeffrey
- Cayaponia oerstedii Cogn.
- Cayaponia ophthalmica R.E. Schult.
- Cayaponia oppositifolia Harms
- Cayaponia ottoniana Cogn.
- Cayaponia ovata Cogn.
- Cayaponia palmata Cogn.
- Cayaponia paraensis Harms
- Cayaponia pedata Cogn.
- Cayaponia pentaphylla Cogn.
- Cayaponia peruviana Cogn.
- Cayaponia petiolulata Cogn.
- Cayaponia piauhiensis Cogn.
- Cayaponia pilosa Cogn.
- Cayaponia podantha Cogn.
- Cayaponia poeppigii Cogn.
- Cayaponia prunifera P. Duchen & S.S. Renner
- Cayaponia psederifolia Standl. ex J.F. Macbr.
- Cayaponia quinqueloba Shinners
- Cayaponia racemosa Cogn.
- Cayaponia reticulata Cogn.
- Cayaponia rigida Cogn.
- Cayaponia rugosa Gomes-Klein & Pirani
- Cayaponia ruizii Cogn.
- Cayaponia saldanhaei Cogn.
- Cayaponia sandia Cogn. ex Griseb.
- Cayaponia schenckii Cogn.
- Cayaponia selysioides C. Jeffrey
- Cayaponia sessiliflora Wunderlin
- Cayaponia setulosa Cogn.
- Cayaponia simplicifolia Cogn.
- Cayaponia smithii Standl.
- Cayaponia subsessilis Sandw. & Cheesm.
- Cayaponia tayuya Cogn.
- Cayaponia ternata Cogn.
- Cayaponia tessmannii Harms
- Cayaponia tibiricae Cogn.
- Cayaponia tomentosa Cogn.
- Cayaponia triangularis Cogn.
- Cayaponia trichocalyx Killip & Cuatrec.
- Cayaponia trifoliata Cogn.
- Cayaponia trifoliolata Cogn.
- Cayaponia trilobata Cogn.
- Cayaponia tubulosa Cogn.
- Cayaponia ulei Cogn. ex Harms
- Cayaponia villosissima Cogn.
- Cayaponia weddellii Cogn.