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Synonyms: |
Bryonia palmata L. |
Common names: | Red-striped cucumber (English) |
Frequency: | |
Status: | Native |
Description: |
Scandent herb, up to 6 m. Leaves: lamina 4-14 × 4-15 cm, deeply palmately 5-lobed, broadly ovate in outline, cordate, minutely rough above or bristly on the veins beneath, otherwise glabrous; petiole prickly. Male flowers 2-8, usually sharing an axil with 1-4 female flowers. Corolla white to greenish-yellow; lobes 6-9 mm long. Female flowers: ovary 4-5 mm long. Fruits subglobose, 1.5-2.5 cm long, solitary or in clusters of 2-5, bright red with silvery white longitudinal stripes. |
Notes: | The plant is grown for ornamental purposes but the fruit is NOT edible. |
Derivation of specific name: | palmatus: palmate, like a hand |
Habitat: | Rain forest as a native plant; also appearing spontaneously in Harare gardens probably as an escape from cultivation |
Altitude range: (metres) | |
Flowering time: | |
Worldwide distribution: | Old World tropics from S. Tomé and Fernando Po east to Australasia |
Zimbabwe distribution: | C,E |
Growth form(s): | |
Endemic status: | |
Red data list status: | |
Insects associated with this species: | |
Spot characters: | Display spot characters for this species |
Images last updated: | Tuesday 7 February 2017 |
Literature: |
Jeffrey, C. (1978). Cucurbitaceae Flora Zambesiaca 4 Pages 451 - 453. Mapaura, A. & Timberlake, J. (eds) (2004). A checklist of Zimbabwean vascular plants Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 33 Sabonet, Pretoria and Harare Page 38. Reekmans, M. (1983). Cucurbitaceae Flore du Rwanda Spermatophytes Volume II Page 479. (Includes a picture). |
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