Coccinia grandis (L.) Voigt

M. Thulin et al. Flora of Somalia, Vol. 1-4 [updated 2008] https://plants.jstor.org/collection/FLOS

Morphology General Habit

Scandent or trailing perennial herb or softly woody deciduous climber to 20 m; rootstock tuberous

Morphology Leaves

Leaf-blade broadly ovate in outline, cordate, sinuate-dentate with glandular usually reddish teeth, punctate above, glabrous, 3.5–11.5 x 3.5–15.5 cm, obscurely pentagonal to deeply palmately 3–5-lobed, lobes triangular to elliptic or rhombic in outline, often lobulate, sometimes deeply so; petioles 0.5–5 cm long, glabrous

Morphology General Tendrils

Tendrils simple

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers

Female flowers solitary Male flowers solitary or 2–4 in shortly pedunculate clusters

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Ovary

Ovary ellipsoid, 3–14 mm long

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Hypanthium

Hypanthium cylindrical, 2–7 mm long Hypanthium obconic, expanded above, glabrous, 3–7 mm long

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx

Sepals oblong-lanceolate, 2–4 mm long, red-tipped Sepals lanceolate, 2.5–6.5 mm long, often red at the apex

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla

Petals similar to those of male flowers, 20–35 mm long Corolla pale yellow with green veins, campanulate; petals 14–25 mm long, united in lower half

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Fruit globose to ellipsoid, green with paler green stripes, red when ripe, 3–7 x 1.5–3.5 cm

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Pedicel

Pedicel 0.4–4 cm long Pedicels 4–25 mm long Pedicels 7–70 mm long

Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds

Seeds asymmetrically ovate in outline, compressed, c. 6 x 2.5–3 x 1.5 mm, fibrillose.

Distribution

N1, 3; C1, 2; S1–3 tropical Africa west to Senegal and south to S Tanzania, tropical Asia and Australasia east to Fiji.

Ecology

Altitude range 20–1740 m.

Vernacular

Aloondooy, geed qumbe, geel, guud-fayleey (Somali-S); galefon, rooxo, sar gudun (Somali-N).

Note

Plants with smaller fruits and shorter pedicels than in the above description also occur in Somalia. Similar plants from Kenya were provisionally described as Coccinia sp. C in Fl. Trop. E. Afr. (1967), and their status is still uncertain.

Distribution

Biogeografic region: Caribbean. Elevation range: 0–0 m a.s.l. Naturalised in Colombia. Colombian departments: Bolívar, Magdalena.

Habit

Climbing.

Ecology

Habitat according IUCN Habitats Classification: artificial - terrestrial.

Bernal, R., Gradstein, S.R. & Celis, M. (eds.). 2015. Catálogo de plantas y líquenes de Colombia. Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá. http://catalogoplantasdecolombia.unal.edu.co

Distribution

Adventicia en Colombia; Alt. 0 - 50 m.; Llanura del Caribe.

Morphology General Habit

Trepadora

Conservation

No Evaluada

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation

Predicted extinction risk: not threatened. Confidence: confident

Cucurbitaceae, C. Jeffrey. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1967

Morphology General Habit

Perennial climber or trailer to 20 m.; rootstock tuberous; young stems green, herbaceous, angled, glabrous except at the nodes, becoming white-dotted when older, perennial, eventually woody and subterete with thin grey or brownish papery bark.

Morphology Leaves

Leaf-blade broadly ovate to subpentagonal or orbicular in outline, ± cordate at the base, entire or sinuate and often with distinct reddish glandular teeth, glabrous, punctate, 34–115 mm. long, 36–155 mm. broad, shallowly to deeply palmately 3–5-lobed; lobes variable, shallowly triangular and broadest at the base to ovate or rhombic in outline and narrowed towards the base, then often bluntly to rather sharply palmately or ± pinnately 3–5(–7)-lobulate; petiole 12–50 mm. long, glabrous or slightly hairy laterally above.

Morphology General Tendrils

Tendrils simple.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Bracts

Probracts small, glandular.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers

Male flowers solitary or paired (rarely 3–4); pedicels 7–70 mm. long; receptacle-tube obconic, expanded above, slightly glandular-hairy internally, 3–7 mm. long; lobes triangular to lanceolate or lanceolate-subspathulate, often red-tipped, acute, 2.5–6 mm. long; corolla campanulate, pale yellow or pale apricot-orange, ± green-veined, with the lobes 14–20 mm. long, 10–16 mm. broad, united in lower half, sometimes red-tipped; stamens normally 3. Female flowers solitary on 4–25 mm. long stalks; ovary green, cylindrical, smooth, 5–13 mm. long, 1.5–3.5 mm. broad; receptacle-tube cylindrical, glandular-hairy inside, 2–7 mm. long; lobes filiform, lanceolate, or triangular, often red-tipped, 2–4 mm. long; corolla-lobes 21–32 mm. long, 7–13 mm. broad, united in lower half or three-quarters.

sex Male

Male flowers solitary or paired (rarely 3–4); pedicels 7–70 mm. long; receptacle-tube obconic, expanded above, slightly glandular-hairy internally, 3–7 mm. long; lobes triangular to lanceolate or lanceolate-subspathulate, often red-tipped, acute, 2.5–6 mm. long; corolla campanulate, pale yellow or pale apricot-orange, ± green-veined, with the lobes 14–20 mm. long, 10–16 mm. broad, united in lower half, sometimes red-tipped; stamens normally 3.

sex Female

Female flowers solitary on 4–25 mm. long stalks; ovary green, cylindrical, smooth, 5–13 mm. long, 1.5–3.5 mm. broad; receptacle-tube cylindrical, glandular-hairy inside, 2–7 mm. long; lobes filiform, lanceolate, or triangular, often red-tipped, 2–4 mm. long; corolla-lobes 21–32 mm. long, 7–13 mm. broad, united in lower half or three-quarters.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Fruit on an 8–40 mm. long stalk, fleshy, baccate, red when ripe except for small green area around fruit-stalk, ellipsoid, rarely spherical, rounded at the ends, 29–67 mm. long, 14–35 mm. across.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds

Seeds asymmetrically pyriform in outline, compressed, with a slightly depressed disk and rather thick 2-grooved margins, 6 × 3 × 1.5 mm.; testa fibrillose.

Figures

Fig. 8/8–10, p. 57.

Habitat

Deciduous bushland, woodland and wooded grassland, dry evergreen forest and evergreen woodland; 0–1680 m.

Distribution

northern tropical Africa eastwards from Senegal to the Somali RepublicArabiatropical Asia from W. Pakistan to HainanMalesia and tropical Australia, Fijiintroduced into the West Indies and tropical South America K1 K2 K4 K5 K7 T1 T2 T3 T6 T8 U1 U2 U3 U4