Synonyms: |
Bryonia palmata L. |
Common names: | Red-striped cucumber (English) |
Frequency: | |
Status: | |
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. |
Type location: |
Sri Lanka |
Notes: | |
Derivation of specific name: | palmatus: palmate, like a hand |
Habitat: | |
Altitude range: (metres) | |
Flowering time: | |
Worldwide distribution: | Old World tropics from S. Tomé and Fernando Po east to Australasia |
Growth form(s): | |
Endemic status: | |
Red data list status: | |
Insects associated with this species: | |
Spot characters: | Display spot characters for this species |
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. Ntore, S. & al. (2024). Checklist of the vascular plants of Burundi Page 90. Reekmans, M. (1983). Cucurbitaceae Flore du Rwanda Spermatophytes Volume II Page 479. (Includes a picture). |