Home
Rampant annual trailing herb to 2–7 m.; stems long-hairy, especially in younger parts, with the hairs fine and spreading.. Leaf-blade broadly ovate or reniform in outline, subcordate-truncate, rounded above, somewhat stiff-hairy especially on the nerves beneath, faintly and obscurely sinuate-toothed, 65–170 mm. long, 77–220 mm. broad, sometimes obscurely 3-lobed with rounded lobes; petiole 25–115 mm. long, ± finely spreading-hairy.. Tendrils weak, fascicled 2–5 at the nodes.. Male flowers 1–3 or more, on 7–9 mm. long pedicels; receptacle-tube ± 2.5 mm. long; lobes filiform, 3 mm. long; petals yellow, ± 4.5 mm. long and 2 mm. broad, united below.. Female flowers subsessile; ovary hairy, ovoid, 3 mm. long, 1 mm. across; receptacle-tube 3 mm. long; stalk of ovary rapidly elongating after flowering to 150–230 mm. long, burying the young fruit in the ground.. Fruit subterranean, subglobose, 39–41 mm. long, 34–53 mm. across, pale biscuit-coloured with rough markings; pulp brownish.. Seeds whitish, compressed, elliptic in outline, 15 × 6 × 2 mm.
A herb. It lies along the ground. It grows each year from seed. The stems can be 2.5 m long. They produce roots at the nodes. The leaves have long leaf stalks. The leaves are heart shaped with small lobes and fine teeth along the edge. The flowers are pale yellow. They occur singly in the axils of leaves. The grow on long stalks into the soil. The fruit develop and ripen in the soil. They are pale green or yellow. The seeds are narrowly oval and white.
Female flowers solitary, co-axillary with male opening before male towards apex of shoots; pedicel stout, 3·5–11 mm. long, rapidly elongating after flowering and burying the developing fruit; ovary 3–3·5 × 1 mm., ovoid-rostrate, acute, densely retrorsely tomentose; perianth similar to that of male flower, quickly deciduous.
Leaf-lamina 3–11(17) × 3–13(22) cm., ovate or broadly ovate to suborbicular in outline, weakly cordate, more or less scabrid-setulose above and on veins beneath, sinuate-denticulate, very shortly palmately 5-lobed or subpentagonal, lobes broadly ovate or broadly triangular, rounded, sometimes shortly acuminate, apiculate.
Prostrate annual herb. Tendrils 2-8 at each node. Pedicel of ovary rapidly elongating and burying developing fruit. Fruit maturing underground, subglobose, pale greenish, yellow or whitish, rugose; fruit stalk 100-250 mm long. Flowers yellow or pale yellow.
male flowers 2–12 in small fascicles; pedicels 5–11(10) mm. long. Receptacle-tube 1·5–3·5 mm. long, lobes 0·7–3 mm. long. Petals 2–7 mm. long, yellow or pale yellow.
Fruit subterranean, c. 4 × 3·5–5· cm., subglobose, pale greenish, yellow or whitish, rugose; fruit-stalk 10–25 cm. long.
Annual herb; stems prostrate, to 3 m. or more, crispate-setulose to almost glabrous, rooting at the nodes.
Seeds 15–20 × 7–9 × 2–3 mm., elliptic in outline, compressed, whitish.
Petiole 1·5–5(11·5) cm. long, crispate-setulose.
Tendrils rather weak, 2–8 at each node.
Flowers monoecious.
