Diplocyclos palmatus (L.) C. Jeffrey

Selected images: Click on each image to see a larger version and details of the record View all images (7)

Photo: Mark Hyde
Makari, 19, Jenkinson Road, Chisipite

Detailed records: Display species records QDS maps by: Google Maps Point records by Google Maps

Species details: Click on each item to see an explanation of that item (Note: opens a new window)

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.

Other sources of information about Diplocyclos palmatus:

Our websites:

Flora of Caprivi: cultivated Diplocyclos palmatus
Flora of Mozambique: Diplocyclos palmatus
Flora of Zimbabwe: cultivated Diplocyclos palmatus

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Diplocyclos palmatus
African Plant Database: Diplocyclos palmatus
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Diplocyclos palmatus
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Diplocyclos palmatus
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Diplocyclos palmatus
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Diplocyclos palmatus
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Diplocyclos palmatus
JSTOR Plant Science: Diplocyclos palmatus
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Diplocyclos palmatus
Plants of the World Online: Diplocyclos palmatus
Tropicos: Diplocyclos palmatus
Wikipedia: Diplocyclos palmatus