Coccinia grandis (L.) Voigt

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.. 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.. Tendrils simple.. Probracts small, glandular.. 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.. 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.. Seeds asymmetrically pyriform in outline, compressed, with a slightly depressed disk and rather thick 2-grooved margins, 6 × 3 × 1.5 mm.; testa fibrillose.. Fig. 8/8–10, p. 57.

A tropical plant. It does well in warm climates. In cold weather, plants remain dormant. They cannot grow in waterlogged soil. Plants grow between 550 and 1600 m altitude in Ethiopia. It requires a well distributed rainfall and a fairly high humidity. It grows in areas with an annual rainfall between 1,000-1,600 mm. It requires a sandy soil with good drainage and a high level of organic material. In Nepal the plants grow up to 1400 m altitude. In south Vietnam it grows up to 1,500 m above sea level. In the Himalayas in India it grows between 1,200-2,000 m above sea level. It can grow in arid places. In Yunnan.

The leaves, shoots, and immature fruits are cooked as a vegetable. Mature fruits are eaten raw. The ripe red fruit are collected, peeled and cut into small pieces and added to porridge. The leaf tips are cooked as a vegetable. They are also used in soups. The leaves can be stored for 10 days. The unripe fruit are cooked as a vegetable. They are used in curries. Sometimes the fruit are candied.

Plants are grown from stem cuttings or tuberous roots. They can also be grown from seeds. Stem cuttings about 12-15 cm long are suitable. The plant needs a trellis to climb over. One male plant to every ten female plants is enough to ensure pollination. A spacing of 150 cm apart is suitable. During dry periods watering is required.