Melothria

a genus of plants of the family Cucurbitaceae. They are annual and perennial lianas. The leaves are entire or lobed. The plants may be monoecious or dioecious. The flowers are small with white or yellow five-parted corollas. The pistillate flowers are solitary or in clusters or cymose inflorescences; the staminate flowers grow in racemes or, less commonly, are solitary or clustered. The fruits are small, berrylike, and often pendulous. There are approximately 80 species of Melothria, found primarily in the tropics of both hemispheres. Certain species, particularly such perennials as Melothria pendula and M. punctata (also known as Zehneria scabra), are used as ornamentals on balconies and trellises and in greenhouses. Sometimes the genus is divided into several genera.